Anatomical Manuscripts
Leonardo's Investigation of the Human Body
The frog retains life for some hours when the head, the heart, and all the intestines have been taken away. And if you prick the said cord it instantly twitches and dies. And previous to this it lived without head, without heart, or any bowels or intestines or skin; and here therefore it would seem lies the foundation of movement and life.
— Leonardo da Vinci, Quaderni d'Anatomia V 21 r.
Overview
Though contained within the broader Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, Leonardo's anatomical manuscripts deserve their own designation as one of the most remarkable scientific achievements of the Renaissance. Over a period of approximately 25 years, Leonardo conducted detailed dissections of more than thirty human bodies and produced anatomical drawings of unprecedented accuracy and beauty.
The Dissections
Leonardo dissected bodies at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence and at other locations. He developed innovative methods of anatomical investigation, including the creation of wax casts to discover the true form of internal structures:
"Make two air holes in the horns of the great ventricles and insert melted wax by means of a syringe, making a hole in the ventricle of the memoria, and through this hole fill the three ventricles of the brain; and afterwards when the wax has set take away the brain and you will see the shape of the three ventricles exactly."
As the editors of the Quaderni d'Anatomia note, Leonardo was the first to make casts of the cerebral ventricles, and several hundred years elapsed before the idea occurred to any other anatomist.
Key Areas of Study
- Musculature — detailed studies of the muscles of the ribs, limbs, and torso
- The Skeleton — including vertebral column and skull studies
- Cardiovascular System — the heart, arteries, and veins
- Respiratory System — the lungs and their action on the intestines
- Reproductive System — male and female genito-urinary anatomy
- Embryology — the famous study of the fetus in the womb
- The Brain & Nervous System — including the wax-cast technique
- Comparative Anatomy — studies of animal anatomy alongside human
Leonardo's Method
Leonardo described his systematic method of anatomical illustration: "Therefore there shall be revealed to you here in fifteen entire figures the cosmography of the 'minor mondo' [the Microcosmos or 'lesser world'] in the same order as was used by Ptolemy before me in his cosmography." He consciously modeled his anatomical atlas on Ptolemy's geographical one.
Eyewitness Account
Antonio de Beatis, visiting Leonardo at Amboise in 1517, wrote: "This gentleman has written of anatomy with such detail, showing by illustrations the limbs, muscles, nerves, veins, ligaments, intestines and whatever else there is to discuss in the bodies of men and women, in a way that has never yet been done by anyone else. All this we have seen with our own eyes; and he said that he had dissected more than thirty bodies, both of men and women, of all ages."
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Related subjects: Anatomy & Physiology