Renaissance Art & Science @ Florence by Susan B. Puett J. David Puett & J. David Puett

Author:Susan B. Puett,J. David Puett & J. David Puett [Puett, Susan B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ART015080 Art / History / Renaissance
ISBN: 9781612481388
Publisher: Truman State University
Published: 2016-10-04T04:00:00+00:00

4.2.2 Understanding the Human Body for Medicine and Art

Renaissance physicians in Italy, including Florence, used autopsies and dissections both to determine causes of death and for teaching purposes. Although the Catholic Church in principle prohibited desecration of the human body, it did permit dissection of certain unclaimed cadavers. Artists too had an interest in understanding anatomy in order to more realistically represent the human form in sculptures and paintings. Dissection was not a sanctioned endeavor for artists; however, hospitals were known to occasionally release an unclaimed body for them to personally study. In On Painting, Alberti discussed the importance of anatomical studies as a means of obtaining knowledge of the human body. Vasari described the painter and sculptor Antonio del Pollaiuolo (d. 1498) as one of the great Florentine artists who performed dissections with the aim of understanding the muscularity underlying the outward appearance of the human form. Art was becoming more focused on accuracy in portrayal as it was transformed from the rigid stylized painting to a more realistic representation, a trend driven by the humanistic appreciation of the classical, often nude, Greek and Roman sculptures.

Leonardo da Vinci was also one who deemed the study of anatomy as vital to artistic success. In addition to performing dissections in Rome and Milan, he was also permitted to carry out some in Santa Maria Nuova, where they were already being conducted by doctors. In his notes on illustrating the human body, Leonardo wrote, “Therefore it is necessary to perform more than one dissection; you will need three in order to have a full knowledge of the veins and arteries . . . and three more for a knowledge of the tissues and three for the tendons and muscles and ligaments and three for the bones.”15 Leonardo certainly broke new ground, not only in the repeated use of dissections, but also in the manner in which he drew the systems of the body in exquisite detail, meticulously labeling each diagram and adding notes to annotate his sketches (fig. 4.1). He also filled his notebooks with instructions to artists describing how to draw each particular part of the body. Leonardo had great reverence for the precision with which the human body was constructed and the way in which it operated, as well as an appreciation for the opportunity to study and learn from the corpses made available to him. On a notebook page containing his drawing of the neck with the vertebrae and muscles, Leonardo included this thought: “O speculator! Concerning this machine of ours, let it not distress you that you impart knowledge of it through another’s death, but rejoice that our Creator has ordained the intellect to such excellence of perception.”16

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