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Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

The bones and nerves of the arm (recto); Studies of the nervous system (verso) c.1485-90

Metalpoint (faded) and pen and ink on blue-grey prepared paper | 22.2 x 30.4 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 912613

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  • Recto: anatomical drawings of an extended right arm and shoulder, with one showing the veins and another the bones and tendons; two drawings of the digestive organs; the arm and hand of a monkey; further notes.

    Several of Leonardo’s earliest anatomical sheets are executed in the medium of metalpoint on paper coated with a blue preparation. In many cases the metalpoint has faded badly, perhaps at an early date, for some of them were reinforced in pen by Leonardo himself. The faded metalpoint lines are however still clearly visible in ultraviolet light.

    Most of the anatomical studies on this sheet (there are some architectural sketches too) are concerned with the bones and nerves of the arm. These are based on animal dissection, and Leonardo made no attempt to adjust the proportions to those of a human. The short, thick and strongly curved humerus is suggestive of a dog or other quadruped; the hand at lower right is labelled by Leonardo as that of a monkey, and erroneously shows five roughly equal fingers each with the same number of bones. It exhibits the characteristics of the skeleton of a young individual, with the epiphyses (rounded ends) of the radius, ulna, metacarpals and phalanges shown as distinct small bones.

    The drawings to the top of the page examine the pathways of the nerves from the spine down the arm, and in the largest drawing the radial, median and ulnar nerves can all be distinguished as they traverse the length of the limb. The brachial plexus, where the nerves of the arm leave the spinal column, is shown as formed from just four spinal nerves – fewer than in a monkey, human or dog. In the drawing immediately above, the relationship of the median and ulnar nerves to the muscles at the surface of the arm can be seen. Perhaps the most astute drawing is the small study at centre left, almost invisible in normal light, which illustrates the formation of a spinal nerve (cervical in this case) from the merger of two roots – one dorsal and one ventral – emerging from the spinal cord and passing through an intervertebral foramen.

    Leonardo was particularly interested in the spinal cord as crucial to life: it contains neural circuits that can function independently of the brain, and in the note at centre right he observed that a decapitated frog can continue to exhibit a semblance of life until the cord itself is destroyed: ‘The frog dies instantly when its spinal medulla is perforated. And previously it lived without head, without heart or any interior organs, or intestines or skin. Here therefore it appears lies the foundation of movement and life.’

    The large drawing at the centre of the sheet depicts the thoracic and some abdominal organs of what appears to be a pig, repeated in a rough lateral view (with the addition of the tongue, trachea and so on) at lower left.

    Text adapted from M. Clayton and R. Philo, Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist, London 2012, no. 3

    Verso: the legs of a man, with alongside the bones and tendons of the left leg, in the same position; similarly, a study of a right arm and hand, with the bones and nerves in the same pose alonsgide. Above, a schematic sketch of the base of the cranium and a cervical vertebra, with the spinal cord and ancillary nerves, with inscriptions.

    The principal drawings of both sides of the sheet were copied in 1517 by Albrecht Dürer, in reverse, in his 'Dresden sketchbook' (ff.130v, 133v), along with several other drawings by (or presumed to be by) Leonardo. It would appear that the copies were not direct, but based on intermediate copies, perhaps (given the reversal of the images) experimental prints by Leonardo or a member of his immediate circle.
    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

  • Medium and techniques

    Metalpoint (faded) and pen and ink on blue-grey prepared paper

    Measurements

    22.2 x 30.4 cm (sheet of paper)


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