Leonardo da Vinci: Unearthing the Anatomical Mastery

Leonardo da Vinci, an unquestionable polymath and true genius, also stood as a pioneering human anatomist. His meticulously detailed works, continuously scrutinized for their precision, have received validation through modern imaging techniques. The field of human anatomy had seen scant progress for centuries since Galen, whose limitations included a lack of access to human cadavers. Pre-Leonardo, depictions of the human body were primarily superficial, lacking insight into its internal mechanisms, which were verbally, not visually, explained.

In Leonardo's birthplace of Florence, he gained access to cadavers, embarking on a dissection journey from 1489 onwards. Over two decades, he meticulously dissected some twenty to thirty corpses, ranging from healthy to diseased and deformed. Within his human anatomy notebook, he recorded precise measurements of body proportions, accompanied by multi-view drawings. For instance, his representations of the hand and leg featured intricate layers, showcasing the relationships among arteries, muscles, ligaments, nerves, and bones.

Leonardo's in-depth exploration extended to capturing a wide array of facial expressions, which he skillfully incorporated into his renowned artworks. While celebrated for his accurate depiction of a fetus attached to its umbilical cord, his sketches of the female reproductive system contained some errors, leaning closer to an animal representation than a human one. Beyond drawings and sketches, his thirst for understanding the body's functioning led him to create physical and mechanical models simulating organ operations, such as the opening and closing of heart valves. These models informed his drawings and studies.

Leonardo aspired to create a comprehensive treatise on human anatomy, envisioning its utility for medical practitioners. Unfortunately, his passing in 1519 resulted in these anatomical papers being tucked away among his private possessions. After changing hands multiple times over the years, they resurfaced in the British Royal Collection at the close of the seventeenth century, where they currently reside.

Leonardo created the "Vitruvian Man" around 1490, a pen and ink drawing inspired by the concepts of Vitruvius, a Roman architect from the first century BCE. Vitruvius posited that the perfect human body could be depicted using the geometric shapes of a circle and a square.