Athena Review Image Archive ™
Da Vinci: anatomy of human and dog legs
Comparative anatomy of human and dog legs (Da Vinci, ca. 1480)
This drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci, dating from about 1480, illustrates the contrastive bipedal vs. quadrapedal lower leg configurations of humans and dogs. It shows both bones and upper thigh muscles. This is one of the earliest known drawings showing such comparative anatomy.
Da
Vinci's notes accompanying the drawings are written in his typical,
ideosyncratic "mirror writing," a script read from right to left.
Reference:
Da Vinci, Leonardo. 1950. The Human Body: Anatomical Drawings (ed.)
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