Art and anatomy in the renaissance: are the lessons still relevant today

Abstract

This review discusses how renaissance artists such as Leonardo and Michelangelo had to undertake anatomical studies of human cadavers in order to understand the anatomy that then informed their artworks, whether they were drawings, paintings or sculpture. Around this time, anatomists, such as Vesalius and Estienne, had to in part become artists or engage with artists and artisans to illustrate their many discoveries. This review tries to portray how this was occurring in a period in history not only when there was a shift-taking place in philosophical and theological thinking about the human condition but also when there was a concurrent revolution in the visual language with the advent of print reproduction. This allowed the creation of essentially the first medical texts, and the wide dissemination of newly acquired knowledge for the advancement of surgery and medicine henceforth. A classic example of where this did not align is Leonardo de Vinci many of whose original works were hidden for 150-400 years. This review also describes how learning anatomy and artistic endeavours still have a mutually beneficial relationship in the modern world-a second 'Renaissance'. Examples are given such as body painting, exposure of art students human cadavers resources and lastly there is consideration of how modern anatomy relies on many new technologies that allow students and practitioners to 'dissect' in a virtual sense and with the advent of a new visual language, that is, 3D printing, to create novel artforms of educational significance.

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