Artist: Leonardo Da Vinci
Date: 1510
Size: 29 x 19 cm
Museum: Royal Collection (London, United Kingdom)
Technique: Drawing
Recto: a study of the lower left limb of a man, with the muscles of the thigh and calf emphasised; seven studies of the palate, tongue, larynx and hyoid bone; studies of the tongue, mouth, larynx, trachea and pharynx; studies of the tongue, throat, larynx, trachea, main bronchi and oesophagus in profile to the left; seven details of the larynx. Verso: the head and shoulders with emphasis on musculature; two studies of the bones of the foot; lateral movement of the big toe; three studies of the left side of a man; some studies of details and notes on the drawings. Though the leg was presumably the first study on this sheet (RCIN 919002r) the remainder of the page is devoted to the throat, with drawings of the pharynx, larynx and trachea, and discussions of their functions in breathing, speaking and swallowing. The large drawings to the left display the uvula, the wishbone-shaped hyoid bone, the thyroid gland, and the thyroid, cricoid and tracheal cartilages; the odd form of some of the structures may have been derived from animal dissection. Individual features are studied in detail, such as the movement of the hyoid bone and epiglottis to prevent food or drink entering the airway of the larynx while swallowing. In the winter of 1510-11, Leonardo apparently dissected up to twenty human bodies in the medical school of the University of Pavia, focussing on the mechanisms of the bones and muscles. Text adapted from Leonardo da Vinci: A life in drawing, London, 2018
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