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Cadavers in Art

The study and teaching of anatomy through the ages would not have been possible without sketches and detailed drawings of discoveries when working with human corpses. The artistic depiction of the placement of body parts plays a crucial role in studying anatomy and in assisting those working with the human body. These images serve as the only glance into the body that most will never witness in person.

Da Vinci collaborated with Andreas Vesalius who also worked with many young artists to illustrate Vesalius’ book "De Humani Corporis Fabrica" and this launched the use of labelling anatomical features to better describe them. It is believed that Vesalius used cadavers of executed criminals in his work due to the inability to secure bodies for this type of work and dissection..He also went to great measures to utilize a spirit of art appreciation in his drawings and also employed other artists to assist in these illustrations.

The study of the human body was not isolated to only medical doctors and students, as many artists reflected their expertise through masterful drawings and paintings. The detailed study of human and animal anatomy, as well as the dissection of corpses, was utilized by early Italian renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci in an effort to more accurately depict the human figure through his work. He studied the anatomy from an exterior perspective as an apprentice under Andrea del Verrocchio that started in 1466. During his apprenticeship, Leonardo mastered drawing detailed versions of anatomical structures such as muscles and tendons by 1472.

His approach to the depiction of the human body was much like that of the study of architecture, providing multiple views and three-dimensional perspectives of what he witnessed in person. One of the first examples of this is using the three dimensional perspectives to draw a skull in 1489. Further study under Verrocchio, some of Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical work was published in his book A Treatise on Painting. A few years later, in 1516, he partnered with professor and anatomist Marcantonio della Torre in Florence, Italy to take his study further. The two began to conduct dissections on human corpses at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova and later at hospitals in Milan and Rome. Through his study, da Vinci was perhaps the first to accurately draw the natural position of the human fetus in the womb, via cadaver of a late mother and her unborn child. It is speculated that he conducted approximately 30 dissections total. His work with cadavers allowed him to portray the first drawings of the umbilical cord, uterus, cervix and vagina and ultimately dispute beliefs that the uterus had multiple chambers in the case of multiple births. It is reported that between 1504 and 1507, he experimented with the brain of an ox by injecting a tube into the ventricular cavities, injecting hot wax, and scraping off the brain leaving a cast of the ventricles. Da Vinci’s efforts proved to be very helpful in the study of the brains ventricular system. Da Vinci gained an understanding of what was happening mechanically under the skin to better portray the body through art.  For example, he removed the facial skin of the cadaver to more closely observe and draw the detailed muscles that move the lips to obtain a holistic understanding of that system. He also conducted a thorough study of the foot and ankle that continues to be consistent with current clinical theories and practice. His work with the shoulder also mirrors modern understanding of its movement and functions, utilizing a mechanical description likening it to ropes and pulleys. He also was one of the first to study neuroanatomy and made great advances regarding the understanding of the anatomy of the eye, optic nerves and the spine but unfortunately his later discovered notes were disorganized and difficult to decipher due to his practice of reverse script writing (mirror writing).

For centuries artists have used their knowledge gleaned from the study of anatomy and the use of cadavers to better present a more accurate and lively representation of the human body in their artwork and mostly in paintings. It is thought that Michelangelo and/or Raphael may have also conducted dissections.

The power of observation of the human body continues to be crucial for both the artist and the physician. The doctor will observe to discover if any abnormalities exist with the body and the artist uses observation to analyze shapes and positions of structures, thus inspiring the artist to create. It is this merging of arts and sciences that brings an appreciation of the study of cadavers to an important level.