(May 4) For almost 400 years Leonardo da Vinci’s groundbreaking studies of the human body laid hidden from public view.
But starting from today, and until October 7, they will be on show at The Queen’s Gallery, in Buckingham Palace, as part of the Royal Collection.
Leonardo has long been recognized as one of the great artists of the Renaissance, but he was also a pioneer in the understanding of human anatomy. He intended to publish his ground-breaking work in a treatise on anatomy, and if he had done so his discoveries would have transformed European knowledge of the subject. But on Leonardo’s death in 1519 the drawings remained a mass of undigested material among his private papers and their significance was effectively lost to the world for almost 400 years.
The exhibition – called “Leonardo: Anatomist” – is the largest ever of Leonardo da Vinci’s studies of human body: 87 drawings, many of which have never been publicy seen since they were drawn by Leonardo himself. (Red)
