
The bones and muscles

3d footage of the hand All rights reserved
During the winter of 1510 - 11, Leonardo was apparently working in the medical school of the university of Pavia, south of Milan, alongside the professor of anatomy, Marcantonio della Torre. He now had ready access to human material, and may have dissected as many as 20 corpses that winter.
Leonardo concentrated on the bones and muscles, analysing the body in purely mechanical terms and adopting a range of illustrative techniques to make his drawings as clear as possible. He depicted the shoulder stripped down in stages, and the hand built up layer by layer. From engineering Leonardo took the convention of the ‘exploded view’; from architecture, the principles of elevation, plan and section, then dividing these orthogonals more finely in order to depict the body from multiple directions.
All of these conventions are now routine in medical illustration and imaging. Presented alongside Leonardo’s drawings are modern images – MRI and CT scans, computer animations, 3D films – that demonstrate how close his concerns (and solutions) were to those of today’s anatomists.
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The muscles of the upper spine. Verso: The muscles of the upper spine
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The muscles of the leg. Verso: The muscles of the trunk and leg
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The throat, and the muscles of the leg. Verso: The bones of the foot, and the muscles of the neck
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The muscles of the leg. Verso: The muscles of the trunk and leg
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The throat, and the muscles of the leg. Verso: The bones of the foot, and the muscles of the neck
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The surface anatomy of the shoulder and arm. Verso: The vertebral column
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The muscles of the shoulder and arm. Verso: The muscles of the shoulder and arm, and the bones of the foot
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The superficial anatomy of the shoulder and neck. Verso: The muscles of the shoulder
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The bones and muscles of the shoulder. Verso: The superficial anatomy of the shoulder and neck
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
The muscles and tendons of the lower leg and foot
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
The tendons of the lower leg and foot
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The bones, muscles and tendons of the hand. Verso: The bones of the hand
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The skeleton. Verso: The muscles of the face and arm, and the nerves and veins of the hand
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The muscles and tendons of the sole of the foot. Verso: The muscles of the lower leg
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The bones of the foot, and the shoulder. Verso: The veins and muscles of the arm
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The muscles of the leg, and the intercostal muscles. Verso: The muscles of the foot
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The bones of the foot. Verso: The bones and muscles of the arm
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The bones of the arm and leg. Verso: The surface anatomy of the shoulder
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)
Recto: The bones and muscles of the leg. Verso: The muscles of the shoulder, arm and neck
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519)