Corpus of the Anatomical Studies (Collection)
Leonardo da Vinci was a passionate researcher of the human body, its structure, and its functionality. This theme pervades his entire body of work, and countless masterful drawings provide insight to this day into this passion of the natural scientist and universal genius: the famous anatomical studies, assembled here into a compendium from the collection of the Royal Library at Windsor Castle.
Corpus of the Anatomical Studies
The study of a hand with its tendons and bones, the state of an unborn fetus in the womb of the mother, the allocation of organs in the human abdomen or a male body with the fascinating play of muscles under the skin: all of that and more were themes that Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) studied and recorded in numerous masterful drawings. These findings fascinated the universal genius from both a naturalistic and artistic perspective, helping him on the other hand by developing the human body in his masterful sculptures and paintings.
The Human Body as a Whole and in Detail
Windsor Castle houses an impressive collection of Leonardo drawings created between 1483 to 1513. This selection has been created to give a wonderful overview of Leonardoβs graphic works and studies of the human body. Alongside the famous full-body depictions of a human with a glimpse of the inside of the body, with the routes of the blood vessels, the layout of the organs, the construction of the skeleton, and the interplay of the bones are treated in numerous depictions of individual parts of the body as well β e.g. the head or the foot. Thus, for example, one finds a study sheet of the hand in the bundle, which is covered all over with notes and drawings, which wonderfully emphasizes Leonardoβs passion with this work. With accurate, almost medical precision, the universal genius pursued systematic studies of the human body, which are presented in the collection at hand. The bundle of anatomical studies was appended with preliminary studies of the Virgin of the Rocks and The Last Supper, a few landscapes, caricatures, and other figurative representations.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Il Corpus degli Studi Anatomici
Korpus der anatomischen Studien - Type
- Manuscript on paper
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- Last quarter of the 15th century β 1519
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Artist / School
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452β1519)
Corpus of the Anatomical Studies (Collection)
Study of a Fetus in the Womb
This is one of two colored sketches of a human fetus in the womb made by Leonard da Vinci ca. 1511 and correctly depicts the fetus inside of the uterus as well as the uterine artery on the outer surface to the left. Specifically, the fetus is shown in a breech position, which would require delivery via Caesarean section. Leonardo was assisted by the anatomist Marcantonio della Torre who showed him a cadaver with a fetus still in it. The dissection of pregnant women who had unfortunately died and the resulting studies such as this helped to dispel contemporary theories that wombs had multiple chambers for accommodating twins or triplets, as well as numerous other ideas from βquack doctorsβ.
Corpus of the Anatomical Studies (Collection)
Studies of the Human Shoulder
Aside from a sketch of the skeletal structure of a foot in the bottom-right corner that does not seem to be connected to the rest of the page, these five sketches show the layers of muscle, ligaments, tendons, and three bones that work together to make the most mobile and complicated joint in the human body work, which needs to balance the need for a wide range of motion with the strength and stability to lift, push, and pull.
Leonardo dissected 30 male and female cadavers during his career and took a methodical approach to understanding the structures of human anatomy. The two large drawings in the upper right corner show the arm with the skin removed as the other three show numbered muscles being slowly peeled away to reveal the underlying tendons. Finally, a small drawing in the right margin shows the bones of the neck and shoulder as well as several ribs.
#1 Anatomia I + Anatomia II
Language: Italian
(3,000β¬ - 7,000β¬)
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