Recto: The muscles of the leg. Verso: The muscles of the trunk and leg

Recto: a study of a man from the shoulder down, facing the spectator; with legs apart, showing the leg muscles, the shoulder and extended right arm (the left arm not shown); notes on the drawings. Verso: a man in profile to the right, from neck to ankle, showing the superficial muscles; a man's right leg, showing the superficial muscles of the thigh; numerous small studies, diagrams and notes on the drawings. RCIN 919014v is dominated by boldly modelled studies of the superficial muscles from the neck to the ankle. In the smaller diagrams and notes Leonardo analyses the structure of muscles in general – the mechanical function of the broad tendon of attachment, the muscle body, and the narrower tendon of insertion; the sensation due to the nerve; the ‘nourishment’ provided by the vein, and the ‘spirit’ by the artery. In the winter of 1510-11 Leonardo was apparently working in the medical school of the University of Pavia. He may have dissected up to twenty human bodies that winter, focussing on the mechanisms of the bones and muscles. Text adapted from Leonardo da Vinci: A life in drawing, London, 2018