Leonardo da Vinci and Anatomy: The Mechanics of Life

Anatomical drawings from the Renaissance master that influenced medical science and informed his artistic output

Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) made detailed anatomical sketches that contributed both to a greater understanding of the human body and to the compositions of his own artworks. Da Vinci was not content with a passive description of the human body; he sought to understand the mysteries of its functions by studying the mechanics, senses and bodily processes through...