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Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

The muscles and nerves of the leg c.1508

Pen and ink over black chalk | 19.2 x 14.0 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 919035

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  • A folio from Leonardo's 'Anatomical Manuscript B'.

    Recto: a drawing of the inner surface of a left leg showing vessels and nerves; schema of the right sciatic nerve and its branches; the outer surface of a left leg; notes on the drawings and on the principles of anatomical representation.

    On the left is a rather bizarre drawing of the sacral plexus, the complex of spinal nerves from which the sciatic nerve originates (cf. the schematic drawings of the brachial plexus, 919021, 919040). The spinal column kinks through almost ninety degrees between the last lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum (which is shown with distinct elements), and the nerves of the sacral plexus appear to come directly off the bone of the sacrum rather than the spinal cord. The lower part of the drawing shows the tibial and common fibular components of the sciatic nerve, which Leonardo follows down to the foot:

    "At f g h [sacral plexus] arise the nerves which with their branches wrap around the muscles of the calf at the back of the leg below the knee at a b. And lower down they surround the second group of muscles at c d; and lastly they are bent behind the ankle-bones at e f and then pass beneath to the foot."

    In the drawing on the right, the sartorius muscle has been cut at both ends (labelled a and b to accord with the studies on the verso of the sheet) to show neurovascular elements in the adductor (Hunter’s) canal – probably the superficial femoral artery (with the deep femoral artery branching off towards the top) and the saphenous branch of the femoral nerve. Some components of the quadriceps femoris complex may be distinguished, and the insertions of the semimembranosus and semitendinosus at the inside of the knee. The study is very similar to that on 912626, executed some twenty years earlier and perhaps the first evidence of Leonardo’s dissection of human tissue.

    The note to the right, with two small diagrams below, is a succinct expression of one of Leonardo’s favoured illustrative techniques:

    "Remember never to change the outlines of any limb because of some muscle which you have lifted off in order to expose another. And if indeed you remove muscles, the borders of which form the contour of a limb from which you have detached it, then you must mark with dots the boundary of that limb... And do this so that the shape of that limb which you are describing may not be left a monstrous thing through having its parts taken away. Besides this, one gets a greater knowledge of the whole because having lifted off the part you can see the true shape of the whole from which the part was removed."

    Verso: two drawings of a left leg, one being a front view, the other of the inner surface, both drawn to show the superficial muscles of the thigh; notes on the drawings.

    The long sartorius muscle is prominent and labelled a b in both studies; tensor fasciae latae is labelled c, though Leonardo has not indicated the iliotibial tract (the aponeurotic insertion of tensor fasciae latae and gluteus maximus). Across the front of the thigh, rectus femoris, vastus medialis and vastus lateralis, components of the quadriceps femoris complex of muscles, are clearly distinguished.

    In the drawing on the left, the leg is turned a little to show the muscles of the calf including gastrocnemius and soleus. The muscles on the inside of the thigh (including gracilis and adductor magnus and longus) are not differentiated, and all are labelled il lace[rto], literally ‘lizard’ – Leonardo’s usual name for long, relatively narrow muscles, as distinct from musculo (from Latin ‘small mouse’) which referred to muscles generally and to short, rounded muscles specifically.

    In the notes down the right of the sheet Leonardo attempts to analyse the action of these muscles:

    "The lacerto a b [sartorius] and the lacerto a c [tensor fasciae latae] serve to lift the thigh forwards. Furthermore they give the thigh lateral movements, that is to say, spread out [abduct] and narrow [adduct] the thighs. In producing widening [abduction] of the thigh there is enlargement and shortening of the muscle a c. The lacerto a b works by shortening.

    "On the rotatory movement of the thigh. Part of the rotatory movement of the thigh to right and left is caused by the aforesaid muscles, that is, the muscle a c revolves the thigh inwards and the lacerto a b revolves it outwards; and the two together lift up the thigh."

    In the note at upper left Leonardo writes: ‘I want to detach the muscle or lacerto a b [sartorius] and show what passes under it’, and on the recto of the sheet he does just that.

    Text from M. Clayton and R. Philo, Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist, London 2012
     
    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

    Pen and ink over black chalk

    Measurements

    19.2 x 14.0 cm (sheet of paper)


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