Leonardo Da Vinci: Anatomist by Martin Clayton, Ron Philo (review)

Every time I think that surely we have run out of superlatives to cover Leonardo da Vinci’s (1452–1519) broad reach, I am once again reminded of how unique he was. One of the more extraordinary aspects of the work of this artist, scientist and technologist is that, despite his reputation as an artist while he was alive, the high quality and level of details within his anatomical studies were largely unknown. Unpublished during his life, and meriting only brief mention in Vasari’s Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550), the full scope of what Leonardo accomplished was not fully conceptualized. The anatomical revolution entered the culture in fits and starts, but Leonardo’s work was hardly studied or circulated beyond his immediate circle. As Clayton and Philo point out:

His reputation as the archetypal “Renaissance Man” has been as a painter who also happened to practice in the sciences. Leonardo himself would not have recognized this image. From the 1480s onwards his scientific studies were at least as important to him as his artistic activity. During the last decade of his life he seems not to have begun a single new painting, and in the years from 1508 to 1513, in particular, he worked essentially as a scientist who occasionally put his hand to paintings that he had begun in earlier years. And of all his scientific endeavors— optics, geology, botany, hydrodynamics—the field that engaged him most fully, and that in which he made the most far-reaching discoveries, was that of human anatomy

(p. 7).

Leonardo’s anatomical drawings in the Royal Collection compose this book. As the book explains, it is entirely plausible that Leonardo worked with Marcantonio della Torre at the University of Pavia and had hoped to publish his work with him. Della Torre died young, from plague, and although Leonardo continued his work on his own, the work remained unpublished. It is not known precisely how this group of drawings entered the collection, but it is believed they were either a gift of or acquired by Charles II (reigned 1660–1685). They languished there for over a century until William Hunter (a surgeon and the first Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy of Art) found the surviving sketches in George III’s library around 1773. Hunter praised them, planned to publish them, and then unfortunately passed away before doing so. This extraordinary wealth of drawings thus continued to remain largely unavailable until facsimile editions were prepared between 1898 and 1916. We are lucky that Hunter found them and that we have the opportunity to see, enjoy and study this superb body of work.

The text of Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist is minimal, but it provides excellent foundational material. Prepared for a 2012 exhibition in The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, the book is both beautiful and informative. Each of the 87 anatomical studies has a descriptive summary, and these are accompanied by a general historical discussion that places the work in terms of science and art history. Given the ongoing discussions of whether recognition by one’s peers is a component in evaluating whether or not works are creative, Leonardo’s work makes the case that this is not an appropriate rubric. Although Vasari mentioned his attentiveness to human anatomy, his peers’ knowledge of these studies largely missed the depth of the work and thus how extraordinary his observations were.

The drawings themselves are a testament to Leonardo’s view that visual information can convey more than words. The book tells us that he dissected more than 30 human corpses as he explored every aspect of anatomy and physiology. The work produced is unparalleled in beauty, and its lucidity captures the workings of the body, even suggesting motion and dynamics. Some of this was aided by studies he did outside of the dissection room. Although I could not read the artist’s...