Heidi Novack October 24, 2010
Italian Renaissance: Journal 3

Leonardo's Anatomical Studies

The synthesis of art and science, at the time of Leonardo DaVinci, was not so difficult as modern contemporaries may perceive. In Fritjof Capra's work, “The Science of Leonardo”, he claims “Leonardo insisted again and again that the 'art', or skill, of painting must be supported by the painter's 'science', or sound knowledge of living forms, by his intellectual understanding of their intrinsic nature and underlying principles” (Capra 34). In his notebooks, the main subject is sketches, with notes and a short writing on each. While Leonardo began his dissections for the purpose of art, his study of the human form did not end there. Methods of his analysis include dissection, wax castings, models, and sketches: his subsequent findings are even more diverse. Leonardo was truly a pioneer in anatomical studies.
In order to better understand the body, Leonardo looked at what made up the body, how it moved. The initial purpose of his anatomical studies and dissections was to more accurately depict movement, gestures, and expressions in his paintings (Capka). This led to numerous sketches of human limbs, with skin and without, and through successive layers of musculature. One of his sketches depicts a comparison of a human leg to a horse's leg, both a skeletal sketch and an anatomically correct depiction of each: historically, this is the first account of comparative anatomy. Leonardo based his drawings and findings on systematic observation: “He gained precise knowledge by dissecting more than 30 cadavers – until at last Pope Leo X barred him from the mortuary in Rome” (Hale). Of the dissections, DaVinci focused more on the eye and optical nerves earlier in his life, and later on began to study the full body (Capka 115). Before this, however, DaVinci created wax casts of various cavities in the human body, such as the heart, cranial cavity, and eye. These wax casts, as well as DaVinci's pristine recollective memory, enabled him to make precise drawings of his findings. He sketched cross-sections of the body, as well as muscular layers, bones, bones and ligaments, and veinal and arterial pathways. Of organs such as the liver, pancreas, kidneys and renal system, sexual organs and lung and heart, Leonardo depicted each from six viewpoints: front, back, left side, right side, above, and below. In organizing his notes and sketches into codexes, DaVinci even wrote methods of extraction for the lungs and heart.
While the initial purpose of his endeavors was the analysis of human structure and movement, Leonardo's curiosity led him to explore the innermost workings of the body. His artistic and scientific discoveries are both extensive and impressive. Dissections in the dead of night, over rotting corpses and under candlelight, proved to be a common occurrence for Leonardo, in order to avoid accusations of heresy. His studies led him to many brilliant conclusions: initial study of the optic lens and eyes as a whole led him to find that light enters the eye, which causes us to see an image: and when that image enters our brain, it is flipped upside down and backwards (Capka 8). He also made many sketches of the biceps: an area of interest due to his finding that this muscle was responsible for the bending of the elbow, and in turning the palm of the hand upwards (lairweb). Investigation of the heart cause him to find that it was what pumped blood through the body: to find this, he had visited a slaughterhouse where the method of killing the pigs was a skewer through the heart: he observed that “when the pig was already motionless the stiletto still quivered, in a regular rhythm” (Calder). This was how DaVinci found that the heart beat blood through the veins. Also concerning the heart, Leonardo's inspection of the one-way valves in the heart led to his engineering of the one-way lock and dam system. In an autopsy of a man Leonardo met at a hospital, he found that the old man's death was caused by a hardening of the arteries: rediscovered as arteriosclerosis more than three hundred years later (Capka 117).
Leonardo's vast innovative engineering and medical discoveries did not have any influence on his contemporaries, as his work was never published and was separated and sold. His apprentice took care of his notebooks, but when they were passed to his apprentice's son, they were dispersed to whoever would buy them. Of the speculated 20,000 pages, only 6,000 are known today. His discoveries, throughout time, have been rediscovered. Designs similar to his, but modified for our time, have developed: but without his ideas for basis. Various inventions that Leonardo designed but never invented, have been modeled for experiment's sake: and most are functional. While Leonardo is best known for his paintings, what we all are most influenced by is his creation and development of the scientific method. His empirical approach to science included “the systematic observation of nature, logical reasoning, and some mathematical formulations” (Capka 2). Leonardo passed down much for us to learn from, including various codexes – one on painting became a classic study tool for the art student for centuries to come – as well as his magnificent artwork. While Leonardo's engineering and anatomical studies were unrivaled for the time, his inability to publish them led to his work becoming obscure and unknown for centuries to come, as humanity attempted to bridge the gaps and discoveries between Leonardo's brilliant sketches and innovative designs.
Advancing to the forefront of factual scientific discovery without even the humanist education (due to his illegitimacy), Da Vinci's spectrum of work is astonishing. Focusing on his anatomical studies, the implementation of his scientific method and early “lab reports” made it simple for one to follow the development or degradation of the human body, based on his sketches. From models and casts of the organs, Leonardo could later sketch them, as it would have been blood-stained if he were to have performed the autopsy while simultaneously sketching. He also could not simply extract the organs for further study, because they would begin to rot as soon as the person died. Leonardo's methods of speedy autopsy procedures yet in-depth inspection of all pieces of the body made him a great scientist. However, it was his artistic talent that gave such realistic anatomical drawings, and his curiosity that caused him to be the first to accurately represent human anatomy.

Bibliography

Calder, Richie. “Leonardo & the Age of the Eye”. Simon and Schuster, 1970.
Capra, Fritjof. “The Science of Leonardo.” New York. Anchor Books: a division of Random House, Inc. 2007. Oct 2010.
“DaVinci: Drawings: Anatomy.” Loadstar's Lair. 31 Dec 2008
Hale, John R. “Great Ages of Man: Renaissance.” New York. Time Life Books, 1965. Oct 2010.