The Bardic Unicorn

The “Academic painting” is an interesting study on the ideal man!

The “Academic painting” is sometimes fake. The fake is stained with coffee in the corner, and hilariously, has a a USB drive taped to the back! (Da Vinci code, anyone?!)

Fake Academic Painting, complete with coffee stains!

USB Drive taped to the back!

You’ll only see the USB taped to the back if you place the painting somewhere and turn it around. I placed mine outside to get a look at it, as you can see in my screenshot above. (So yes, I purchased a fake!) Make sure yours is coffee-free or Blathers will not accept it! Take your real one to the museum and Blathers will place it between your Famous Painting and your Serene Painting. The description provided on the plaque will read as follows:

Vitruvian Man, Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1487

Pen and ink on paper

This drawing is based on the “ideal” human-body ratio, as stated in “De architectura.” “De architecture” was a treatise by Vitruvius, an architect from the early 1st century BCE.

Da Vinci gets three entries in the museum! He deserves it – when I draw with a pen and ink on paper, my work does not come out like this:

Vitruvian Man, Leondardo da Vinci, via Wikicommons

The notes around the work are regarding his thoughts on the work of the architect, Vitruvius Pollio. It’s oddly complicated when it comes down to how it describes the ‘perfect proportions’ of a man!

• “From the roots of the hair to the bottom of the chin is the tenth of a man’s height”
• “From the bottom of the chin to the top of his head is one-eighth of his height”
•  “From the top of the breast to the top of his head will be one-sixth of a man”
• “From the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man.”
• “From the nipples to the top of the head will be the fourth part of a man.”
• “The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of the man.”
• “From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the fifth part of a man”
• “From the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the eighth part of the man.”
• “The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man”
• “The beginning of the genitals marks the middle of the man”
• “The foot is the seventh part of the man”
• “From the sole of the foot to below the knee will be the fourth part of the man”
• “From below the knee to the beginning of the genitals will be the fourth part of the man”
• “The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows is, in each case the same, and like the ear, a third of the face”

Good luck with that?

The piece is pretty fragile, so it’s very rarely on display. It lives permanently at the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice, Italy.

Looking for more information on the art in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Check out the master list of all the art available!