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February 17, 2017

The Intellectual Endeavors of Leonardo Da Vinci

The hepatic blood vessels illustrated by Leonardo Da Vinci

In the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII issued a papal decree, De Sepulturis, which outlawed various methods of lightening the bodies of the diseased for the ease of transport. These methods–common among the Crusaders in the Near East–included the removal of flesh by boiling as well as dismemberment, which also allowed for bodies to be stored in more compact containers. For years after, De Sepulturis was misinterpreted to include the condemnation of anatomical dissection, and for years the study of anatomy would suffer from this misconception. Over time, however, anatomical dissections regained popularity and became important not only to scientists of the body, but also to artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. However, even into the 1500’s, anatomical sketches were considered distractions unworthy of publication in anatomy textbooks.1

Sketch by Leonardo Da Vinci of artificial vascular system2
Nevertheless, despite the intellectual schism between the illustrator and the anatomist, the two classes were often found in the same place: the apothecary. Artists, who frequented apothecaries to purchase pigments, were also in the midst of the influential popularization of artistic realism. For this reason, artists frequently used their relationships with apothecaries to attend dissections, which helped artists deepen their understandings of the superficial structures of the human body and therefore make more lifelike illustrations and sculptures. That being said, most artists never ventured into a dissection to obtain a deeper understanding of the human body’s functions. Their concerns were simply for appearance, and perhaps that was the reason many of their illustrations were not suitable as visual aides within textbooks.3

Leonardo Da Vinci, the famous Italian polymath most commonly known today for his painting Mona Lisa, was not renowned for his anatomical diagrams in his time; but unlike his artist peers, his illustrations of the human structure went far beyond the superficial arteries and musculature. While his diagrams do not indicate formal training or even first-hand experience at dissection, Da Vinci began sketching the human anatomy at four different perspectives, simulating a three-dimensional model. Furthermore, Da Vinci sketched the bodily organs, and even wrote about their anatomical functions. It seems that it was Da Vinci’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge and inquiry that drove him to observe deeper than what most deemed necessary. This was characteristic of Leonardo from a young age. Indeed, in 1478, when Leonardo began his career in Florence under the Compagnia de San Luca, he was just sixteen. His early loves for mathematics and mechanics were maintained throughout his life and consistently influenced his vision of the world.4;

Leonardo da Vinci’s Madonna of the Rocks | Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Vision was a key aspect to human knowledge to Da Vinci. Being a man of many talents and interests, Da Vinci was drawn to many occupations, and in 1478, after recommending himself to the Duke of Milan, he was made a royal appointee to the duke, Lodovico Sforza, as chief military engineer. In his letter of self-recommendation, Da Vinci referred to himself not only as an artist, but also as a mathematician, architect, and engineer. One of Da Vinci’s first tasks in Milan was to supervise the construction of the Cathedral at Pavia, which would become one of the largest cathedrals in the world. However, it is reported that Da Vinci became so immersed in the theoretical aspects of the physical laws and mechanics involved in the construction of the cathedral that his subordinate had to assume leadership on the practical matters of construction. During this time, Da Vinci also began a practice that has allowed historians and enthusiasts to obtain much deeper insight into the course of Da Vinci’s intellectual studies; like many intellectuals of the Renaissance, Da Vinci began cataloging and recording his studies in notebooks. Many of the anatomical sketches that still survive today were contained in such notebooks. Regardless of his official position as chief military engineer, however, Da Vinci’s primary modes of creation were artistic. Indeed, it was in Milan that Da Vinci finished the paintings Madonna of the Rocks, and The Last Supper; both are masterpieces of human expression and artistic style and technique.5

In 1500, Da Vinci left Milan and continued to paint. He spent several years as a vagabond and finished few paintings during these years, although the famous Mona Lisa was among those left unfinished around the year 1503. At the age of sixty-three, he was appointed to the company of the king of France, near Ambroise, where his chief duty was to keep good company to the king. Leonardo spent the last ten years of his life continuing his research in the realm of the physical sciences, and died on May 2, 1519.6

  1. Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Da Vinci on the Human Body: The Anatomical, Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, eds. Charles Donald O’Malley and John Bertrand de Cusance Morant Saunders (New York: H. Schuman, 1952), 13.
  2. Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Da Vinci on the Human Body: The Anatomical, Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, eds. Charles Donald O’Malley and John Bertrand de Cusance Morant Saunders (New York: H. Schuman, 1952), 131.
  3. Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Da Vinci on the Human Body: The Anatomical, Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, eds. Charles Donald O’Malley and John Bertrand de Cusance Morant Saunders (New York: H. Schuman, 1952), 14-16.
  4. Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Da Vinci on the Human Body: The Anatomical, Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, eds. Charles Donald O’Malley and John Bertrand de Cusance Morant Saunders (New York: H. Schuman, 1952), 14-19
  5. Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo Da Vinci on the Human Body: The Anatomical, Physiological, and Embryological Drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci, eds. Charles Donald O’Malley and John Bertrand de Cusance Morant Saunders (New York: H. Schuman, 1952), 18-21; Toby Lester, Da Vinci’s Ghost : Genius, Obsession, and How Leonardo Created the World in His Own Image (New York : Free Press, 2012), 117-121; Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2016, s.v. “Leonardo Da Vinci,” by James Livingston.
  6. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia, 2016, s.v. “Leonardo Da Vinci,” by James Livingston.

Tags from the story

Leonardo Da Vinci

Renaissance

Recent Comments

Cameron Mays

This article gave me a different outlook on Da Vinci, and the drawings behind anatomy, so for that, I applaud you in choosing an enticing topic. The article was quite well-researched and written quite well, but I feel as if it lost some direction. In other words you kind of discusses a wide variety of things, and I wish it was more focused on just a few aspects of the anatomy drawings or Da Vinci’s life.

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17/02/2017

7:19 am

Gabriela Medrano

It is typical when you think Da Vinci you think Mona Lisa but I was not aware of this side of his art. Very interesting facts presented, especially on his theme of anatomy. He was sort of a rebel, especially with all the outlawed action going on this era, I was not aware this was actually a thing, which is very inhumane even if the people were dead. On a different note, it is no wonder Da Vinci is a renaissance icon he sort of touched up on everything math, military, architect and engineer. Interesting read, good job on the article.

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17/02/2017

7:19 am

Irene Astran

I thought it was interesting that Da Vinci began a career at the age of sixteen. There are so many of us in our final years of school who do not even know what we want to do yet! I enjoyed your article, but was hoping you would go into more detail about works that people are usually not familiar with.

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17/02/2017

7:19 am

Jennifer Pogue

Great article. It gave me a new out perspective on Da Vinci’s work. I knew him best for the Mona Lisa. I was not familiar with his other works of human anatomy. It did disgust me how the bodies were handled for transportation. It does seem disrespectful. That said, the human body is fascinating and I can understand why he would be interested in sketching it. Da Vinci was/is a great artist and after reading this article I am inspired to look at his other sketches and paintings.

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17/02/2017

7:19 am

Hayden Hollinger

This article was very well written. I found it very interesting to read about the other sides to Da Vinci. I was impressed by the facts that you presented in this piece and found them to be very important to further my knowledge of Da Vinci. This article covered a lot of things regarding and I enjoyed learning about the various things surrounding his life. Finally, it was interesting to read that Da Vinci started his career at such a young age!

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17/02/2017

7:19 am

Anayeli Prieto

This is such a great article I want to start off by saying that Leonardo da Vinci’s one of my favorite painters. I want saw this image of a man in a circle him and I was wondering if it would be One of the wonderful collections and investigations by Leonardo Divinci . He certainly has all the fame due to his wonderful paintings one example being the Mona Lisa and he grabs our attention and captured our hearts because of his great dedication to his art.

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18/02/2017

7:19 am

Steven Clinton

Interesting Article, most people are familiar with Leonardo Da Vinci famous portrait, of Mona Lisa but aren’t aware of Leonardo other creations. I never really thought Leonardo would have a personal interest in the human anatomy. It’s also weird how back then dismemberment was acceptable, nowadays that is considered a desecration of a body. Overall I found this article well thought out and enjoyable.

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19/02/2017

7:19 am

Nataly Solis Chavez

Interesting article and definitely very well written. It was interesting to hear about other aspects of Da Vinci’s art and where some of his works inspirations originated. It is unfortunate however that human dissection was condemned and it affected the progress of human anatomy. Your article definitely covered a lot of information but I feel as though maybe if you were to have gone a little more in depth about certain things that not everyone may be familiar with it could’ve been much better.

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19/02/2017

7:19 am

Luke Trevino

Wow! Great article! I had never know if Leonardo’s da Vincis work in anatomy drawing! I knew he was a world renowned artist due to his paining of Mona Lisa but never knew he was a mathematician, artictect and engineer. It’s crazy how with what little technology they had he still drew the anatomy of the body. The part that blows my mind is that he was even to name some of the functions of different parts of the body. Overall, very good essay!

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20/02/2017

7:19 am

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