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Ulster Museum, Belfast

For Leonardo's skull studies of 1489, see RCIN 919059. 
The cranium studied on the recto is in the same section as in the upper drawing of 919057r, with the floor of the cranial cavity tilted a little further towards the viewer. Again, the site of the sen

Recto: The cranium sectioned. Verso: The skull sectioned: Verso: The skull sectioned ©

Leonardo made greater advances in his study of anatomy than in any other scientific pursuit. In April 1489 he sectioned a human skull to study the relationship between its external and internal structure.

The drawing shows the skull sawn first down the middle, then across the front of the right side. With the two halves juxtaposed, the viewer can locate the facial cavities in relation to the surface features. In the left margin Leonardo drew, described and enumerated the different types of teeth – molar, premolar, canine and incisor.

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