Exhibition of Anatomical Drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci

Drawings of human anatomy created by an Italian artist in the sixteenth century Leonardo da Vinci will be exhibited for the first time on May 4 at Buckingham Palace, curators of the exhibition announced. "Leonardo da Vinci: Anatom" will be the largest exhibition of works on the human body created by the Florentine genius, which for 300 years remained hidden in leather binding.

According to experts, these drawings, which will be exhibited to the public at the Queen’s Gallery (at Buckingham Palace), could quickly change the European understanding of anatomy that existed before Leonardo’s works.

Between 1489 and 1513, scientists conducted detailed studies of human bones, muscles, and internal organs, such as the heart or brain. At the time of the death of Leonardo da Vinci in 1519, his anatomical studies were among the personal papers of a very disorganized artist and did not immediately become public.

Leonardo bequeathed his notebooks and drawings to his young assistant, Francesco Melzi, who died in 1570. In the same year, after the death of Meltzi, his son sold the drawings to the Italian artist and sculptor Pompeo Leoni, who put them together in an album, along with hundreds of works by Da Vinci. Leoni recorded his name with Leonardo, he made it in gold letters on the cover of the album: "Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings, preserved by Pompeo Leoni."

As Martin Clayton, curator of the exhibition, explained, Leoni’s album is “an extremely important part of the 500 year history of the anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci”. “For 300 years, the book was inaccessible for practical purposes, the drawings appeared to be buried. They were all together, and in excellent condition, but the flip side of the coin was that they were not distributed around the world and were not published, ”the expert said. The drawings only became known “in 1900, and we now know that the anatomical drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci were among the most incredibly detailed and accurate of all time,” she adds.

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