Editing Sacred geometry (section)

=== In Christianity ===
The construction of Medieval European cathedrals was often based on geometries intended to make the viewer see the world through mathematics, and through this understanding, gain a better understanding of the divine.<ref>{{Citation|last=Petersen|first=Toni|chapter=A(rt and) A(rchitecture) T(hesaurus)|date=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t000037|title=Oxford Art Online|isbn=978-1-884446-05-4 }}</ref> These churches frequently featured a [[Latin Cross]] floor-plan.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|last=CUMMINGS|first=L.A.|chapter=A RECURRING GEOMETRICAL PATTERN IN THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IMAGINATION|date=1986|pages=981–997|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=9780080339863|doi=10.1016/b978-0-08-033986-3.50067-7|title=Symmetry}}</ref>

In the [[High Middle Ages]], leading Christian philosophers explained the layout of the universe in terms of a microcosm analogy. In her book describing the divine visions she witnessed, [[Hildegard of Bingen]] explains that she saw an outstretched human figure located within a circular orb.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Lester |first=Toby |title=Da Vinci's Ghost: Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in his Own Image |publisher=Free Press |year=2012 |location=New York |pages=50}}</ref> When interpreted by theologians, the human figure was Christ and mankind showing the Earthly realm and the circumference of the circle was a representation of the universe. Some images also show above the universe a depiction of God.<ref name=":5" /> This is thought to later have inspired [[Da Vinci]]’s ''[[Vitruvian Man]]''.

[[Dante]] uses circles to make up the nine layers of hell categorized in his book, [[The Divine Comedy|''The'' ''Divine Comedy'']]. “Celestial spheres” are also utilized to make up the nine layers of Paradise.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last1=Pagano |first1=Alessandra |last2=Dalena |first2=Matteo |date=2022 |title=Dante: 700 years of the Inferno |volume=8 |pages=40 |work=National Geographic |issue=4}}</ref> He further creates a cosmic order of circular forms that stretches from Jerusalem in the Earthly realm up to God in Heaven.<ref name=":6" /> This cosmology is believed to have been inspired by the ancient astronomer [[Ptolemy]].<ref name=":6" />

At the beginning of the [[Renaissance]] in Europe, views shifted to favor simple and regular geometries. The circle in particular became a central and symbolic shape for the base of buildings, as it represented the perfection of nature and the centrality of man's place in the universe.<ref name=":0" /> The use of the circle and other simple and symmetrical geometric shapes was solidified as a staple of [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] [[sacred architecture]] in [[Leon Battista Alberti]]'s architectural treatise, which described the ideal church in terms of spiritual geometry.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rudolf. |first=Wittkower |title=Architectural principles in the age of humanism. |date=1998 |publisher=Academy Editions |isbn=978-0471977636 |oclc=981109542}}</ref>