Human Dissection and the Science and Art of Leonardo da Vinci

Abstract

Anatomy and pathology are 2 of medicine’s oldest and most distinguished disciplines. Jesse Edwards, who founded cardiac pathology at the Mayo Clinic, and William C. Roberts, first head of pathology at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, are in the best tradition as reflected in this manuscript. Leonardo da Vinci was the illegitimate son of a beautiful peasant girl, Caterina, and a local notary, Piero da Vinci. Leonardo was born in a small Tuscan hill town, where he lived until his father arranged for him to study in Florence at Compagnia di San Luca, a painter’s guild at the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova (Figure 1), which included physicians and apothecaries.1Hughes A. The guilds and the principate in sixteenth century Florence.Oxf Art J. 1986; 9: 3-10Crossref Scopus (7) Google Scholar The scientific achievements of Leonardo da Vinci, genius of the Renaissance (Figure 2), were virtually unknown during his lifetime and remained unknown for more than 2 centuries after his death.2Keele K. Leonardo da Vinci’s Elements of the Science of Man. Harcourt Brace, New York, New York1983Google Scholar, 3Capra F. The Science of Leonardo. Doubleday, Garden City New York2007Google Scholar Between 1489 and 1513 in the crypt of Santa Maria Nuova, Leonardo dissected more than 30 bodies of both genders and all ages. Dissections were a messy business, demanding resilience to withstand the odious sights and awful odors of decomposing corpses. Leonardo performed his dissections at night by candlelight, which made them even more macabre.2Keele K. Leonardo da Vinci’s Elements of the Science of Man. Harcourt Brace, New York, New York1983Google Scholar, 3Capra F. The Science of Leonardo. Doubleday, Garden City New York2007Google Scholar He paid grave robbers to bring him bodies for his anatomic and pathologic studies. Body snatching was illegal, but the law was not enforced. Galen (Figure 3), anatomist, physician, and philosopher (ad 130–200), dissected Barbary apes4Cosans C.E. The foundations of Galen’s teleology.Studies Hist Philos Sci A. 1998; 29: 63-80Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar, 5Tallmadge M. Galen on the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York1968Google Scholar because the Church forbade human postmortem dissection, although Christian theology did not regard the human cadaver as sacrosanct. Human dissection was forbidden in the Roman Empire (753 bc to ad 476).6Lloyd G.E.R. Science, Folklore and Ideology: Studies in the Life Sciences in Ancient Greece. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom1983Google Scholar Leonardo was sensitive to human dignity, as illustrated by the postmortem of an aged man who died in his presence7Fielding S. The Executioner’s Bible: The Story of Every British Hangman of the Twentieth Century. John Blake, London, United Kingdom2008Google Scholar: “And this old man, a few hours before his death, told me he was over a hundred years old and that he felt nothing wrong with his body other than weakness. And thus, while sitting on his bed in the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, without any movement or other sign of mishap, he passed out of this life. And I made an anatomy of him in order to see the cause of so sweet a death.” In late 13th-century and early 14th-century Europe, dissection of the bodies of executed criminals was legalized, and in the 16th century, physicians and surgeons in England were given limited rights to dissect cadavers.7Fielding S. The Executioner’s Bible: The Story of Every British Hangman of the Twentieth Century. John Blake, London, United Kingdom2008Google Scholar The Murder Act of 1752 added terror and infamy to punishment by authorizing dissection of the bodies of criminals.8Emsley C. Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900. Longman, London, United Kingdom1987Google Scholar The Company of Barber-Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians were authorized to perform dissections.8Emsley C. Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900. Longman, London, United Kingdom1987Google Scholar The iconic red and white striped pole symbolizing blood and bandages is the last vestige of the Barber-Surgeons. Few physicians today have read or even heard of Leonardo’s description of the circumstances under which he worked: “There were no chemicals to preserve the cadavers which began to decompose before there was time to examine and draw them properly. You will perhaps be impeded by your stomach, and if this does not impede you, you will perhaps be impeded by the fear of living through the night hours in the company of these corpses, quartered and flayed and frightening to behold. One single body was not sufficient, so it was necessary to proceed little by little with as many bodies as would render the complete knowledge.” Despite the adverse circumstances, Leonardo carried out his dissections with patience, delicacy, and meticulous attention to detail. Minute particles of flesh and muscle were meticulously teased away to expose small blood vessels until the corpse was too dismembered to permit further dissection. Among Leonardo’s many gifts was complete visual recall. Once he saw an object, he could draw it precisely, and he did so after each of his dissections.2Keele K. Leonardo da Vinci’s Elements of the Science of Man. Harcourt Brace, New York, New York1983Google Scholar, 3Capra F. The Science of Leonardo. Doubleday, Garden City New York2007Google Scholar Leonardo was in awe of the beauty of natural forms and nature’s ingenuity, which he regarded as far superior to human design, but his depiction of the human fetus in its intrauterine position is beautiful (Figure 4). A compassion for animals prompted him to buy caged birds and set them free,2Keele K. Leonardo da Vinci’s Elements of the Science of Man. Harcourt Brace, New York, New York1983Google Scholar, 3Capra F. The Science of Leonardo. Doubleday, Garden City New York2007Google Scholar but the compassion did not dissuade him from dissecting animals and comparing their anatomy to that of human beings. He recognized the heart as a 4-chambered muscle with 2 upper auricles and 2 lower ventricles.2Keele K. Leonardo da Vinci’s Elements of the Science of Man. Harcourt Brace, New York, New York1983Google Scholar, 3Capra F. The Science of Leonardo. Doubleday, Garden City New York2007Google Scholar It was the conventional wisdom that inherited traits were derived from the father, but Leonardo argued correctly that the seed of the mother had equal power.3Capra F. The Science of Leonardo. Doubleday, Garden City New York2007Google Scholar An interest in embryonic development and reproduction was reflected in the drawing of a 5-month-old fetus in the womb, the first accurate portrayal. Leonardo’s stay in Rome at Ospedale di Santo Spirito (1513) was cut short by papal decree because his speculations on the cognitive capabilities and soul of the embryo conflicted with Church doctrine. Pope Leo X branded Leonardo a heretic. Ancient Egyptians dissected organs during the process of mummification.9Ikram S. Dodson A. The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity. Thames & Hudson, New York, New York1998Google Scholar Herophilos and Erasistratus (335–280 bc), Greek physicians in Alexandria, were the first to perform systematic dissections of human bodies.6Lloyd G.E.R. Science, Folklore and Ideology: Studies in the Life Sciences in Ancient Greece. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom1983Google Scholar In the Roman Empire (753 bc to ad 476), human dissection was forbidden. Galen (Figure 3), anatomist, physician, and philosopher (ad 130–200), dissected Barbary apes4Cosans C.E. The foundations of Galen’s teleology.Studies Hist Philos Sci A. 1998; 29: 63-80Crossref Scopus (8) Google Scholar, 5Tallmadge M. Galen on the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York1968Google Scholar because the Church forbade human postmortem dissection, although Christian theology did not regard the human cadaver as sacrosanct. In late 13th-century and early 14th-century Europe, dissection of the bodies of executed criminals was legalized, and in the 16th century, physicians and surgeons in England were given limited rights to dissect cadavers.7Fielding S. The Executioner’s Bible: The Story of Every British Hangman of the Twentieth Century. John Blake, London, United Kingdom2008Google Scholar The Murder Act of 1752 added terror and infamy to punishment by authorizing dissection of the bodies of criminals.8Emsley C. Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900. Longman, London, United Kingdom1987Google Scholar In the 18th century, the Company of Barber-Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians were authorized to perform dissections.8Emsley C. Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900. Longman, London, United Kingdom1987Google Scholar The iconic red and white striped pole that symbolized blood and bandages is the last vestige of the Barber-Surgeons. Andreas Vesalius, one of the greatest figures in the history of anatomy, was surely influenced by Leonardo, who was 60 years his elder. Vesalius’s investigations of the structure of the human body resulted in the discovery of inconsistencies in the teachings of Galen, who commented on internal organs without ever having seen them in human form because his dissections were confined to Barbary apes.10Vesalius A. On the Fabric of the Human Body.in: Richardson W.F. Carman J.B. Norman, San Francisco, California1998: 382-383Google Scholar, 11O'Malley C.D. Andreas Vesalius of Brussels. University of California Press, Berkeley, California1964Google Scholar Adam’s rib was a literal bone of contention. Vesalius had the audacity to say that men and women had the same number of ribs, which was sacrilege because the bible stated that almighty God created Eve from 1 of Adam’s ribs10Vesalius A. On the Fabric of the Human Body.in: Richardson W.F. Carman J.B. Norman, San Francisco, California1998: 382-383Google Scholar, 11O'Malley C.D. Andreas Vesalius of Brussels. University of California Press, Berkeley, California1964Google Scholar: “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh thereof.” De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Figure 5) was the result of 5 years of work on human dissection. It was published in 1543, the same year Copernicus published his treatise on the solar system. The figures of De Humani Corporis Fabrica were drawn either by Vesalius himself or by pupils of Titian. Human motion was illustrated by unique poses of the skeletons and of the partially dissected bodies. Vesalius’s book was a landmark in the history of science. It was also a singular aesthetic achievement. Advanced techniques of printing and typography made it possible to display anatomy with perfection.10Vesalius A. On the Fabric of the Human Body.in: Richardson W.F. Carman J.B. Norman, San Francisco, California1998: 382-383Google Scholar, 11O'Malley C.D. Andreas Vesalius of Brussels. University of California Press, Berkeley, California1964Google Scholar For the first time, an understanding of medicine was based on an accurate representation of the human body. The author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.