Cesar Peralta & Javier Urango

INTRODUCTION:

Leonardo da Vinci was an italian renaissance

engineer, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer,  botanist, and writer.

Leonardo da vinci made many contributions in a lot of fields:

Science: Leonardo da Vinci did many researches in different scientific fields, some of them are:

• Medicine • Anatomy • Botany• Ophthalmology• Fisiology• Mechanics

Medicine: Leonardo da Vinci contributed to medicine with his studies of anatomy and ophthalmology.

- Mechanics: Leonardo da Vinci also did several contributions in the field of the mechanics. He invented and designed many machines:

• Fly machines: The hang glider, the air screw...

• War machines: The catapult, the tank...

• Other machines: The prototype of a car, a type of bicycle...

Tank

Catapult

Car

Fly Machine

- Art: he contributed to many aspects of art:

• Painting: he painted many famous pictures.

• Sculpture: he sculpted some important scultures.

• Architecture: he ìmproved the ways of drawing plans using new techniques.

Anatomy research: anatomy before da Vinci time:

- Until the renaissance, anatomy was not realistic. Anatomical drawings and models were flat and schematic.

- In the 13th century dissections of human corpses started to be made in Italy. They will be done in France some years later.

- During the 13th and 14th century surgery was unusual.

- During Leonardo da Vinci time anatomy knowledge improved considerably.

- In the 15th century, artists began to do anatomical dissections of human corpses. Some of those artists were: Verrochio, Mantegna, Miguel Ángel, Rafael, Durero and Leonardo da Vinci.

Anatomy during da Vinci time:

-Leonardo da Vinci was the main genius who contributed to anatomical drawings, studies and findings.

-He studied how the heart and the brain work and he also researched the circulatory system.

-He also studied the functions of the respiratory, digestive and cardiovascular system.

How Leonardo da Vinci expanded knowledge of human anatomy:

-Leonardo da Vinci expanded the knowledge of human anatomy with his studies:

• He studied the circulation of the blood and he discovered that the blood is always flowing.

• He studied the muscles of the heart and he made drawings of the valves.

• He also made a drawing of the female reproductive system.

Methods for mading his studies:

•Leonardo da Vinci used several methods for his studies:

- He stole corpses for dissections.

- He also made autopsies to dead bodies that were given to Leonardo.

- For his studies he also used animal bodies.

- Leonardo da Vinci obtained several conclusions after his anatomical studies:

• The spinal cord was the centre of life.

• The blood is flowing constantly through all the body carring nutrients to all its parts.

• The eye, instrument of eyesight is located in the superior whole, and in the space below it, there is a fluid which feed the root of the teeth.

Conclusions:

Leonardo da Vinci did not exhibit his drawings:

- Da Vinci´s intention was to publish these studies in an treatise on anatomy, but at the time of his death in 1519, his anatomical research had not been shown.

- As Leonardo da Vinci could not exhibit his drawings, their whereabouts were unknown and they were found recently.

Comparison with anatomical drawings: