Leonardo Da Vinci Analysis

'Leonardo da Vinci ' is a name that students are introduced to very early on in their academic careers. As a renaissance man, and interdisciplinary learner, da Vinci has made a lasting impact on the knowledge we have today given his contributions to the various fields of study. While many individuals associate da Vinci with priceless works of art hanging in museums around the world, a lesser known attribute of the man was his work with anatomical figures and the resulting sketches from this study. Some of these anatomical drawings are included in da Vinci 's collection of works currently held at the Royal Library in the UK. While browsing through an internet archive of these anatomical drawings one page that peaked my interest was the one

Moving on to the actual characteristics of the images included in da Vinci 's study of the fetus the image that dominates the center of the page is the sketch of the fetus cradled comfortably inside the womb. The baby rests in a curled-up position known as complete breech, or fetal position, looking very serene and untouched. The legs of the fetus are crossed and arms are inside the usually near the knees, with the head of the baby tucked conveying a sense of peacefulness. To reflect this position of the baby, da Vinci uses shadows, darker areas of more concentrated ink lines. Also, by the tiny feet of the baby there is what looks like a cord that curls around the bottom of the body which is most likely meant to be the umbilical cord. However, there is no evidence of a place where the cord connects to the baby, or to the uterine lining that is apparent in the

Outside of the fetus is the uterus, which it is depicted as being opened by one longitudinal line or cut. As aforementioned, the depth of the uterus is signified by the strategic use of thicker crosshatching with the ink. The way that the uterus is sketched opened allowed for da Vinci to identify its structure a bit more accurately than his predecessors. For example, when closely studying the sketch one can see that da Vince has emphasized what looks like layers of the uterus, or underlying tissues. The deepest two layers are very thin and not filled in with any ink, moving further out the next layer is thicker and has an oscillating pattern of the filled in with ink dark in some places, and filled in with a lighter amount of swirly ink lines in another. The outermost layer of the uterus is this and not filled in with any ink. Also, the outer layer of the uterus has some veins or arteries streaking their way over the it.
One of the other sketches that is included on the same page as the fetus sketch is a sketch of a seed opening. This image was most likely included because da Vinci realized similarities between the opening of a seed coat containing the important seedling inside and the uterus containing the fetus inside. This depicts da Vinci 's thought process as he studied the fetus and uterus since he was making connections to previous knowledge that he had