"Precisely because he recognized the complexity of nature Leonardo sought to fathom every single detail- and to render everything exactly... His goal was to understand every single mechanism in the body." -Leonardo's Legacy
Anatomy
Sketches of the Heart- Leonardo Da Vinci
Everything studied by Da Vinci was connected to the human body. He believed that it was a machine. During his time period, it was extremely rare for people to study anatomy because they just followed prior history. Leonardo's drawing were so detailed that they give the viewer a scientific outlook.
"Leonardo's interest in anatomy probably began in Verrocchio's workshop. Most artists of his time learned only enough about skeletons and muscles to allow them to strive for beauty and naturalness in their paintings and sculptures. But to Leonardo the body posed fascinating mysteries. In Milan he began dissecting corpes, searching for clues to how the body works. He believed that drawing the body was the most complete way to understand it." -Leonardo Beautiful Dreamer
<--"In the last phase of his anatomical researches Leonardo focused on the design of the heart, and most notably on the operation of its valves.... Modern science has confirmed his detailed studies of its structure and the vortex motion of the blood." -Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design
"In 1508 he dissected a 100-year-old man, and recorded accurately for the first time cirrhosis of the liver, and narrowing of the arteries. In the winter of 1510-11 he worked with the professor of anatomy dissecting 20 corpses in the medical school of Pavia, and covered his sheets of paper with multi-layered drawings from different angles of almost every bone in the human body including the first accurate depiction of the spine, and many of the major muscle groups." - Royal Collection Exhibition
"Leonardo's interest in anatomy probably began in Verrocchio's workshop. Most artists of his time learned only enough about skeletons and muscles to allow them to strive for beauty and naturalness in their paintings and sculptures. But to Leonardo the body posed fascinating mysteries. In Milan he began dissecting corpes, searching for clues to how the body works. He believed that drawing the body was the most complete way to understand it." -Leonardo Beautiful Dreamer
<--"In the last phase of his anatomical researches Leonardo focused on the design of the heart, and most notably on the operation of its valves.... Modern science has confirmed his detailed studies of its structure and the vortex motion of the blood." -Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design
"In 1508 he dissected a 100-year-old man, and recorded accurately for the first time cirrhosis of the liver, and narrowing of the arteries. In the winter of 1510-11 he worked with the professor of anatomy dissecting 20 corpses in the medical school of Pavia, and covered his sheets of paper with multi-layered drawings from different angles of almost every bone in the human body including the first accurate depiction of the spine, and many of the major muscle groups." - Royal Collection Exhibition
Eyesight
Perspective Sketches- Leonardo Da Vinci
"The eye was called the 'window of the soul,' a concept that Leonardo took further, to identify it as the central way men could understand 'the infinite works of nature.' While others of his day believed the lens was the most important part of the eye, Leonardo was more interested in the retina and how an image is formed there when light strikes it."
And Leonardo continued these light theories.
"...he leaped to the theory that light traveled in waves, and many believed he was the first person to realize this. He was the first to write about the difference between peripheral (on the edge) and central vision." -Kathleen Krull (author of Leonardo Da Vinci)
And Leonardo continued these light theories.
"...he leaped to the theory that light traveled in waves, and many believed he was the first person to realize this. He was the first to write about the difference between peripheral (on the edge) and central vision." -Kathleen Krull (author of Leonardo Da Vinci)