Contribution to the development of the anatomy of Leonardo da Vinci. Anatomy in the sketches of Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci died in 1519. He was only sixty-seven years old. His fame of a famous artist by this time has already spread throughout Europe. However, there is one side of his life that was not known to the public at that time. Few knew how much Leonardo da Vinci's anatomy was of great interest. His scientific research in this direction was virtually unknown to anyone.

Even in the very immediate surroundings of Leonardo da Vinci, the anatomy at that time did not meet due interest and understanding. This situation continued until the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was at this time and was thoroughly studied the discoveries of Leonardo da Vinci in anatomy. Only after the scientists conducted a thorough analysis of his scientific works, looked through thousands of pages of records of the great artist of the Renaissance, it became clear that his scientific work is no less important than art.

Unknown pages of Leonardo da Vinci's life

Anatomy, optics, geology, botany, hydrodynamics, etc. - all these sciences occupied in his life a lot of space, second only to painting. This talented creator had a reputation as an archetypal person living in the Renaissance - an artist who occasionally engages in science.

However, for Leonardo da Vinci himself, the anatomy, as well as the rest of his scientific activity, was no less important than painting. For the last ten years he did not start writing new paintings at all. From 1508 to 1513, the artist mostly gave himself to science, only from time to time returning to the canvases begun in previous years.

More than other sciences

Of all the scientific research at this time, especially Leonardo da Vinci's anatomy. For several years he actively worked with the corpses, neatly opening them for a more accurate understanding of the human physical structure.

Possessing the outstanding talent of the artist and the expressive writing style of Leonardo da Vinci in the field of anatomy, he was able to create one of the most perfect studies of his time. He even prepared the work for publication, but did not have time to realize his intention. If his book were published, then the study of the physical structure of man could take a step forward, so great was the contribution to the development of the anatomy of Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, after his death, all the records and sketches created by this great man, remaining among his personal documents, were hidden from the world for four hundred years.

Versatility

Until now, many of the talents of this man, endlessly gifted, for us remain a mystery. In his youth he worked as an apprentice to one of the most famous Italian artists, Andrea del Verrocchio, while living in Florence. Leonardo patronized the Medici family. Next to his workplace was another art workshop - maestro Antonio del Pollayolo, author of the engraving "Battle of the Naked." Pollajolo became one of the first painters of the Renaissance, who, studying in the anatomical theater, closely studied the human muscular system. Chroniclers believe that it was his paintings that became the first lessons for the young Leonardo da Vinci.

A new approach to the physical structure of man

Anatomy of Renaissance artists was perceived as an auxiliary tool in order to have a correct idea of the body. That's why they paid great attention only to the muscular system. However, they studied, in contrast to Leonardo da Vinci, anatomy briefly, because the device of the internal organs of man practically did not interest them. It is known that Pollayolo personally performed an autopsy of corpses. However, he also dealt more with the anatomy of the muscles, and therefore they did not touch the thorax, the skull and the abdominal cavity.

Initial interest

If, at the very beginning of his scientific activity, Leonardo da Vinci did the same as Pollayolo, then in subsequent years he gradually began to view the physical structure of man not only as an appendix to his favorite painting or sculpture.

In general, the whole life of this great artist covers the general anatomy. His first manuscript historians refer to the 1484th, and the last - to 1515. Probably, even in Florence, Leonardo, first visited the anatomical theater, began to make autopsies. The first he produced in the hospital Santa Maria Nova. Here, many other Florentine artists, for example, Michelangelo, also studied the muscular structure of man.

For them the main practical guidance was the scientific work of Mondino de Lucci, who lived long before Leonardo da Vinci - "Anatomy". A man was discovered according to his method by many generations, not only doctors-pathologists, but also artists, and in the hot climate of Italy this process was carried out for several days.

It was believed that for the first day it is necessary to open the stomach, then - the chest, the third - the heart, and the fourth - the limbs. The study of the head began with the dissection of the scalp, then the skull was opened, after which the brain was examined, and then the base of the skull. During this period of his life, Leonardo created his first schematic anatomical sketches of the transverse sections of the legs. Realizing the complexity of the autopsy, Leonardo considered his observations the basis for studying the structure of the human body.

Records of the "insane" genius

Since almost all the works of Leonardo are diaries, then the records in them were conducted in a peculiar way. They are a kind of dialogues that the author led with an imaginary interlocutor and where he defends his opinion, while giving enough strong evidence. In addition, his manuscripts contain Leonardo's instructions to himself, as well as reasoning that can be directly related to philosophy.

He was interested in the heart, musculoskeletal system, skeleton and muscles. Leonardo was the first to correctly and surprisingly accurately draw shapes and, most importantly, the proportions of all the components of the human bone system. All the preceding images of the skeleton were, as a rule, conditional, schematic or very primitive.

Only on the basis of my own experience

Leonardo attached very high importance to experience, since he was practically all trained independently. He, reading books, then tested his theory in practice. This ingenious creator believed that everything should be created "on the basis of experience." In all aspects, considered by Leonardo da Vinci - a scientist, anatomy is paramount. In this case, almost everywhere in his records, there is a search for the only correct answer. Leonardo, who believed that the truth can be found, guided only by logic or scientific observations, categorically did not recognize "speculative" theories. Therefore, in the basis of all his research, including knowledge of the structure of man, he put such a fundamental science as mathematics.

Mistakes and Misconceptions

The famous picture of Leonardo da Vinci, which depicts the human anatomy, according to scientists, is incredibly accurate, however, with one exception concerning the female reproductive system. But this is understandable, since in the Renaissance it was problematic to carry out an autopsy of female corpses.

Despite the fact that this Italian artist studied anatomy only in order to improve his paintings, which depict the bodies of people, he managed to draw more attention to this discipline.

Genius in everything, Leonardo tried to understand how the human mechanism "works". According to scientists, he looked at the people around him exactly as a mechanic sees the car. The fact that depicting human nature in his painting or sculpture, the artist wanted to be as plausible as possible, because it would allow him to be not only very realistic, but in general - a special and memorable creator.

Anatomy in sketches

This Florentine artist did not just create sketches of human body parts or muscle groups, but also showed them in his sketches in a cut. At the same time, each drawing was accompanied by the necessary records for understanding. And necessarily Leonardo mirrored them, because he mastered this way in perfection. It is the latter that adds complexity to the study, hindering the work of scientists, painstakingly studying the scientific heritage of da Vinci. Today, four centuries later, all of his records and sketches have been carefully digitized and presented to the public. Looking at them, you can definitely say that Leonardo da Vinci's services in anatomy are huge, because he managed to thoroughly study the human body in due time.

In this case, no artist, except for the eyes, the artist and the scientist has devoted so many sketches and records to the heart. At the same time, he refuted Galen's idea that the veins start from this organ. In addition, Leonardo da Vinci was opposed to the theory of the two ventricles, quite rightly believing that the valves divide the heart into divisions. It must be said that the Master had no idea about the circulatory system when he was conducting research.

Significance of contribution

This Florentine genius is considered the founder of science called dynamic anatomy. After Galen for thirteen centuries, almost no new research on the structure of the human body was not, and therefore his works were considered dogma. The first anatomical observations of da Vinci in nature are close to the works of Avicenna, while the latter are Vesalius.

With his own hand making preparations, the great Master introduced everything new into the study of internal organs. It was they who invented the glass model for the study of heart valves. The artist was the first to cut the bones of the skeleton along and across, thereby determining its proportions. The contribution of Leonardo da Vinci to anatomy is difficult to overestimate. He was the author of the first images of human organs in various angles. He called his drawings dimonstrazioni.

Achievements

Leonardo first in the history of science of anatomy suggested that the human sacrum consists not of three, but of five vertebrae, he managed to correctly describe its angle of incidence of the sacrum. He also for the first time considered such anatomical features of our body as the inclination or bends of the ribs, which are very important for understanding the mechanism of breathing, as well as the inclination of the pelvis.

It was Leonardo who managed to correctly calculate that there are twenty-five bones in our foot, while he was not afraid to go into confrontation with the works of Avicenna and Galen, who believed that there were twenty-six of them. The artist was the first to correctly draw articular surfaces. In addition, Leonardo managed to describe and a number of anatomical features of the human skeleton associated with our upright: for example, the oblique position of the femur in relation to the vertical.

His anatomical manuscripts, which are statements, have been available to scientists for many centuries. And although today some of them confirm science, while others refute, like, for example, its awkward theory about blood, nevertheless, despite certain errors in the research, it is difficult to overestimate Leonardo da Vinci's contribution to anatomy as a science.

Harmony of life

Thanks to Leonardo da Vinci, anatomy and medicine today have moved far ahead. However, he was completely negative about the doctors. Being an outstanding man, this artist and scientist as nobody saw the inability and ignorance of the then healers.

Today, all his sketches are the property of the British Royal Collection - the British Royal Collection. Modern anatomy, revolving around such new imaging techniques as magnetic resonance imaging or the study of the structure of humans at a microscopic level, of course, took a long way forward. Such areas of heights were not available to Leonardo, but the Florentine artist still managed to achieve what scientists came to after only a few decades.

For example, his sketches depicting human embryos almost completely correspond to what ultrasound shows today, and the images of the shoulder made by da Vinci look almost the same as their modern three-dimensional visualizations.

A lot of what Leonardo did, for certain reflected the essence of things as it became known many decades after it was presented by the great Florentine painter of the Renaissance.