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ALMOST 500 YEARS after his death Leonardo da Vinci is still known first and foremost as an artist. However even though he is considered one of the greatest artists in history, not to acknowledge his other accomplishments is to miss his true genius. This is the person for whom the descriptor "Renaissance man" was coined. He was a man who could claim the job titles of architect, astronomer, botanist, sculptor, anatomist, physiologist, geologist, and physicist, as well as military, mechanical, civil, and aeronautical engineer. da Vinci remarked in many of his writings that his scientific endeavors were for the sole purpose of improving himself as a painter.1 It is clearly evident from the extent and detail of his investigations that it was much more than art for art's sake but for the answers to life's mysteries. da Vinci may have begun his anatomical and physiological studies as an advancement of his art, but he soon became an avid student. One can only begin to guess at the magnitude of his understanding of human anatomy and physiology. Of the more than 120 chapters da Vinci is reported to have written on the subject, the only remaining evidence of his anatomical studies is the extensive collection of sketches with their distinctive mirrored captions that have survived.2
da Vinci was born in the town of Vinci, Italy near Florence in 1452, and he received his formal art training in the studio of Verecchio. At the age of 29 da Vinci moved to Milan where he worked for Ludivico Sforza, the Duke of Milan. da Vinci procured that job in part through his own self-confidence, having said in a letter to the Duke that he could "carry out sculpture in marble, bronze, or clay, and also I can do in painting whatever may be done, as well as any other, be he whom he may."3 da Vinci worked for the Sforzas until Milan fell to Louis XIV of France. His patronage then moved to the French royal family, and he spent the remainder of his years divided between Milan, Florence, Venice, and Rome. His formal interest in anatomy did not begin until later in his life. Renaissance artists were among the first to begin examining corpses superficially to improve...