Leonardo da Vinci, who lived from 1452 to 1519, was a great Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, biologist, scientist, poet and musician. He was one of the greatest thinkers of all time, and was far ahead of his contemporaries in many fields. Because he was interested in knowing everything about everything, one of the greatest things that Leonardo has left to posterity is his notebooks, in which Leonardo describes his view of the world and his theories as to why things are the way they are. In these five thousand pages of notes concerning all aspects of thought, such as philosophy, anatomy, astronomy and physics, are notes concerning how to paint artistically (in very precise terms), and also there are notes relating the physical aspects of the human body to the reproduction of the body in art. This paper will discuss some of the ways in which Leonardo da Vinci's explorations in anatomy affected his work in painting and art.
Within The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (MacCurdy, 1939, pp. 93-214) are three sections concerning the human body. These sections are "Anatomy," "Comparative Anatomy," and "Human Proportions." There are also interspersed between these pages two very short sections on "Physiology," and "Natural History." Yes, Leonardo was interested in everything, but our concern here is with his anatomical discoveries and their application to his art.
In the section on "Human Proportions," (MacCurdy, 1939, pp. 206-214) Leonardo gives us, in detail, the exact proportions of the human body in relation to all aspects of the rest of the human body. For example, "The span of a man's outstretched arms is equal to his height," and "The size of the mouth in a well proportioned face is equal to the distance between the parting of the lips and the bottom of the chin" (MacCurdy, 1939, p. 206).
Indeed, if we examine some of Leonardo's works, we can find this to be true. Leonardo wanted to know the exact proport...