Leonardo da Vinci and Anatomy, the Mechanics of Life

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci and Anatomy, the Mechanics of Life at the Château du Clos Lucé, this book highlights a little-known facet of the artist's work: anatomical dissection. Self-taught, a “man without letters” and a symbol of the Renaissance spirit, which was characterised by free dialogue between the arts and sciences, Leonardo devoted thirty years of his life to anatomy. Thirty years in an unrelenting quest to understand the mechanics, movement and organic functioning of the human body, and to attempt to penetrate the mysteries of life. His contribution to this field of knowledge reveals a visionary spirit who, five hundred years ahead of his time, had already largely understood and documented the workings of the human body, and whose work as an anatomist is inextricably linked to his work as a painter. While his anatomical studies are a tribute to inner beauty, they also enrich his greatest masterpieces, with the precision of his eye complementing the grace of his brushstrokes. In more than fifteen previously unpublished contributions, academics, art historians, surgeons and physicians were asked to reconsider the legacy of one of the greatest artists and scientists of all time. Comparing the work of Leonardo da Vinci, a pioneering anatomist, with the medical imagery of today, enables us to appreciate the extent of his contribution to science, revealing a work of astonishing modernity.