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1 of 253523 objects
A male nude, and a partial study of the left leg c.1504-6
Red chalk (partly wetted) on red prepared paper | 22.6 x 16.7 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 912593
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A study of the nude figure of a man seen full length, facing the spectator. His legs are set apart, and his arms are supported by two sticks which are slightly indicated. To the left is part of a flexed left leg.
Around the time of his work on the great painting of the Battle of Anghiari (1503-6), left unfinished and later destroyed, Leonardo made many studies of male nudes - not directly preparatory for the mural, but background research on the human form. While it was important for the artist to know how to draw the muscles in tension, it was just as important to know how to draw the body when relaxed. Here the model stands almost symmetrically, with his legs spread equally and his arms supported by sticks so as to put no strain on the shoulder muscles. Leonardo believed that while it was important for expressive purposes to know how to draw the muscles in tension, it was just as important to know how to draw them when relaxed:
You should not make all the muscles of your figures conspicuous; even if they are shown in the correct place they should not be made too evident, unless the limbs to which they belong are engaged in the exertion of great force or labour; and the limbs that are not under strain should have no such display of musculature. If you do otherwise you will have produced a sack of nuts rather than a human figure. [Madrid MS II, f.128r]
Numerous features demonstrate Leonardo’s growing knowledge of the anatomical structures below the skin. In the neck, the sternocleidomastoid and omohyoid muscles and the jugular notch are depicted; on the thorax are the anterior axillary folds caused by the underlying pectoralis major muscle; and on the abdomen, the central linea alba, the prominences caused by the anterior superior iliac spines, and the furrows of the underlying inguinal ligament. The long flexor tendons above the wrists are visible, and surrounding the knee are the vastus medialis and lateralis muscles, with rectus femoris between them. Below the patellas are protrusions caused by the tibial tuberosities. In the lower left corner is a cut drawing of a left leg flexed at the knee, emphasising the rounded inferior portion of vastus lateralis and the raised tendon of the long head of biceps femoris.
Text adapted from M. Clayton and R. Philo, Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist, 2012, no. 21.Provenance
Bequeathed to Francesco Melzi; from whose heirs purchased by Pompeo Leoni, c.1582-90; Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel, by 1630; Probably acquired by Charles II; Royal Collection by 1690
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Medium and techniques
Red chalk (partly wetted) on red prepared paper
Measurements
22.6 x 16.7 cm (sheet of paper)
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