Merge pull request #13806 from meeseeksmachine/auto-backport-of-pr-13771-on-v3.1.x

dstansby · web-flow · commit a49ff0e6bb51 · 2019-03-30T12:33:18.000Z
Backport PR #13771 on branch v3.1.x (patches.Arc docstring update #13759)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/patches.py b/lib/matplotlib/patches.py
@@ -1608,13 +1608,17 @@ def __init__(self, xy, width, height, angle=0.0,
             The length of the vertical axis.
 
         angle : float
-            Rotation of the ellipse in degrees (anti-clockwise).
+            Rotation of the ellipse in degrees (counterclockwise).
 
         theta1, theta2 : float, optional
             Starting and ending angles of the arc in degrees. These values
-            are relative to *angle*, .e.g. if *angle* = 45 and *theta1* = 90
+            are relative to *angle*, e.g. if *angle* = 45 and *theta1* = 90
             the absolute starting angle is 135.
             Default *theta1* = 0, *theta2* = 360, i.e. a complete ellipse.
+            The arc is drawn in the counterclockwise direction.
+            Angles greater than or equal to 360, or smaller than 0, are
+            represented by an equivalent angle in the range [0, 360), by
+            taking the input value mod 360.
 
         Other Parameters
         ----------------
