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Secondary sourceArtifact1796

Skeleton of Thorax, Pelvis, Arms and Legs

Francesco Bartolozzi · 1796

An engraving reproducing Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings of the human skeleton.

An engraving after Leonardo da Vinci's original anatomical drawings of the human skeleton.

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Engraving of a skeleton study with six figures showing thorax, pelvis, arms and legs from several views, with handwritten mirror-script notes and the caption 'From the Original Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci' and 'Engraved by F Bartolozzi'.
Francesco Bartolozzi, Skeleton of Thorax, Pelvis, Arms and Legs, 1796, after a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This 1796 engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi copies an original drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, showing six figures of a skeleton's thorax, pelvis, arms, and legs from different views, with handwritten mirror-script notes. It is held by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

Leonardo studied the human body in great detail, dissecting and drawing bones and muscles to understand how they worked. This later engraving shows how valuable his anatomical studies remained to doctors and artists long after his death.

Look closer

  • Why do you think Leonardo drew the skeleton from several different angles?
  • What might the mirror-script notes tell us about how Leonardo recorded his observations?
  • How might this kind of drawing have helped artists as well as scientists?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Leonardo da Vinci on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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