ABSTRACT

The human body has been studied in great detail by artists over the centuries. In particular, the Renaissance artists began the rigorous tradition of figure drawing so they could produce realistic and detailed interpretations of the human form. For example, Leonardo da Vinci would often attend and perform cadaver dissections to understand human form and function [Clayton 92]. His detailed comprehension of anatomy can clearly be seen in his remarkable drawings of the human body. The value of detailed anatomical understanding is reflected throughout fifteenth-century art, and today it remains a foundation of art instruction [Halton 65, Hogarth 81].