Anatomical studies in the works of Michelangelo Automatic translate

Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the most influential figures in the history of Western art. His ability to depict the human body with unprecedented precision and expressiveness was based on his profound anatomical knowledge, gained through direct study of cadavers. His decades-long practice of dissection laid the foundation for his sculptures and frescoes, which forever changed the concept of the artistic depiction of the human body.

The beginning of anatomical research in Florence

Michelangelo began studying anatomy at the age of seventeen, shortly after the death of his patron, Lorenzo de’ Medici. The abbot of the monastery of Santo Spirito in Florence granted the young artist access to the morgue at the monastery hospital, where he was given the opportunity to dissect the bodies of the deceased. This arrangement was an exchange: in gratitude for permission to perform dissections, Michelangelo created a wooden crucifix for the church of Santo Spirito, which was placed above the high altar.

The practice of anatomical dissection was banned by the Church in the late 15th century, which considered it a desecration of the dead. Pope Sixtus IV permitted public dissections only of the bodies of executed criminals, provided they were subsequently given a dignified burial. Michelangelo worked in secrecy, using bodies from the hospital of Santa Maria del Santo Spirito. Giorgio Vasari, the artist’s biographer and contemporary, wrote: "For the church of Santo Spirito in Florence, Michelangelo made a wooden crucifix, placed above the lunette of the high altar. He did this to please the abbot, who provided him with a room where he dissected numerous corpses, diligently studying anatomy."

Methodology and scope of anatomical studies

Michelangelo differed from most Renaissance artists, who studied anatomy primarily from ancient sculptures and living models. He participated in actual dissections, which allowed him to gain knowledge unavailable to his contemporaries. Ascanio Condivi, Michelangelo’s biographer and student, asserted, "Through dissections, Michelangelo studied all known animals and performed so many human dissections that his number exceeds that of professionals in this field."

Michelangelo’s anatomical interest focused on muscles and bones rather than internal organs. His surviving anatomical drawings demonstrate a detailed understanding of musculature, particularly of the limbs. Dissections allowed the artist to comprehend how the body’s surface and contours change with movement. He created casts of muscles in various poses to reveal their surface anatomy, applying this knowledge to his depictions of nude figures.

Vasari noted Michelangelo’s relentless pursuit of anatomical perfection: "In order to be absolutely perfect, he made countless anatomical studies, dissecting human bodies to see the principles of their structure, the articulation of bones, muscles, veins and nerves, the various movements and all the postures of the human body; and not only of people, but also of animals, especially horses, which he loved to keep."

Sources of Michelangelo’s anatomical knowledge

Michelangelo’s anatomical knowledge was shaped by three sources. The first was direct work with living models and observation of their superficial anatomy. The artist constantly drew from life, a growing practice in Florentine workshops of the time. The second source was cadaver dissections, which provided information about the body’s deep structures, particularly bones and muscle tissue. The third was "classicism" — the study of ancient Roman and Greek sculptures.

Michelangelo carefully studied the Belvedere Torso, a copy of an older statue, likely dating to the early second century BC, housed in the Vatican Museums. This sculpture inspired him to create several figures in the Sistine Chapel, including the sibyls and prophets framing the ceiling. During his stay at the court of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Michelangelo became part of the Florentine center of humanism, where he may have met Giovanni Francesco Rustici, a Florentine nobleman, painter, and sculptor who had studied under Leonardo da Vinci.

The role of anatomical knowledge in sculpture

Michelangelo’s sculptural works clearly demonstrate his application of anatomical knowledge. The statue of David, created between 1501 and 1504, was a direct result of his anatomical studies. The figure is depicted in contrapposto — a classical stance in which the body’s weight is shifted to one leg, creating natural tension in the muscles. Michelangelo captured this pose with anatomical accuracy, demonstrating how the musculature changes in this stance.

David’s sculpture reveals detailed sculpting of the superficial muscles, from the prominent sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck to the clearly defined muscles of the forearm. The artist didn’t simply replicate anatomical structures, but understood their functional interactions. The statue’s right hand is disproportionately large compared to the left, with an enlarged abductor digiti minimi muscle, which researchers believe was an artistic device to draw attention to the stone, symbolizing David’s courage.

The Vatican Pietà, created in 1498–1499, demonstrates a profound understanding of the anatomy of the dead body. Michelangelo conveyed the relaxation of Christ’s muscles, devoid of life, in contrast to the tense poses of his later works. The Florentine Pietà, which the sculptor worked on in the final years of his life, again demonstrates his anatomical mastery in its depiction of the body being taken down from the cross.

Anatomy in Painting: The Sistine Chapel Frescoes

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a supreme achievement in the application of anatomical knowledge to painting. The mural covers over 5,700 square feet and features hundreds of figures in complex, contorted poses. Michelangelo worked standing, holding his brush above his head, causing paint and debris to fall onto his face.

The ignudi — nude athletic youths flanking the central panels of the narrative — demonstrate a masterful grasp of anatomy. Each figure is uniquely posed, requiring an understanding of how the position and shape of muscles change with different movements. Michelangelo depicted not static bodies, but dynamic forms, full of tension and energy.

In "The Creation of Adam," the artist conveyed the moment preceding the spiritualization of the first man. Adam’s body is depicted with relaxed muscles, while the figure of God is surrounded by angels in active movement. Some scholars believe that the outline of God’s robe and the surrounding figures resembles the shape of a brain, possibly indicating a symbolic transfer of intellect to Adam. Frank Meschberger argued that the boundaries of the image correspond to the sulci of the inner and outer surfaces of the brain, the brainstem, the basilar artery, the pituitary gland, and the optic chiasm.

The Last Judgment, completed in 1541 on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, contains approximately 300 figures, most of whom are depicted nude. Vasari wrote that these figures were intended to represent "the most perfect and proportionate composition of the human body in its most varied positions." The figure of Saint Bartholomew, holding the knife of his martyrdom and his flayed skin, demonstrates a precise anatomical understanding of the structure of the skin and underlying tissues. Many scholars see the face on the flayed skin as a self-portrait of Michelangelo himself.

Anatomical drawings and preparatory sketches

Drawing was a fundamental practice for Michelangelo throughout his life. Surviving anatomical drawings, such as "Four Studies of the Left Leg" (1520), demonstrate his comprehensive understanding of specific muscles. These drawings show more than just the external appearance of limbs; they reveal a knowledge of deep anatomical structures.

In the early stages of his career, Michelangelo drew primarily with pen and ink, but soon came to appreciate the convenience and effectiveness of natural chalk. He used both red and black chalk, eventually favoring the latter. The preparatory drawings for the fresco "The Battle of Cascina" (1504) were revolutionary for the period due to their relatively large scale and naturalistic precision. The scene depicted Florentine soldiers caught by surprise while bathing in the Arno River, allowing Michelangelo to depict male nudes in a variety of dynamic poses.

For the tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, Michelangelo planned to create reclining statues representing Day and Night. Four sheets of drawings related to the "Day" statue offer a rare glimpse into the artist’s meticulous preparation on paper before beginning work on the marble block. These sketches show the development of various foreshortenings of the figure, demonstrating how Michelangelo studied the appearance of muscles from different perspectives.

Michelangelo burned a huge number of his drawings throughout his life. According to Vasari, he didn’t want anyone to see his creative struggles. When the artist died in Rome on February 18, 1564, only five figure drawings and five architectural drawings were found in his house, locked in a walnut chest sealed with wax. Researchers have calculated that if Michelangelo had created just one drawing per day throughout his long creative life, he would have produced approximately twenty-eight thousand drawings. Today, only about six hundred are known.

Comparison with Leonardo da Vinci

Michelangelo’s anatomical studies are often compared to the work of his older contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo acquired his first human skull in 1489, and between 1510 and 1511, he performed twenty dissections at the University of Pavia in collaboration with anatomy professor Marcantonio della Torre. By 1513, he had dissected approximately thirty bodies. Many of Leonardo’s remarkable drawings and notes were not discovered until the early 1600s; approximately 600 of his surviving drawings were bound into a single collection, later discovered by William Hunter at Windsor, in the British Royal Collection.

The two artists’ approaches to anatomy differed in their goals. For Leonardo, the primary goal was a long search for truth — he strove to accurately convey gestures to better depict action and emotion. Leonardo never depicted nude figures in his paintings. Michelangelo, on the other hand, had an innate interest in creating nudes. He studied anatomy solely to perfect his art.

As researcher Laurenza notes, "With Leonardo, artists’ interest in anatomy reached its zenith, but at the same time, artistic anatomy became something completely different from what it had been previously during the Renaissance — that is, essentially, the study of muscles and skeletons as part of the process of depicting the nude in art." Leonardo viewed the human body as a representation of the world, studying it from a macroscopic perspective. Michelangelo, on the other hand, saw art as the ultimate goal, and anatomy simply as a tool to achieve it.

Connections with the Renaissance medical community

Michelangelo maintained contacts with the medical community of his time. He may have met Elia del Medigo, a philosopher and physician from the circle of Lorenzo de’ Medici, and may have performed dissections with him. In his later years, Michelangelo developed a close relationship with Realdo Colombo (1516–1559), a surgeon, anatomist, and follower of Andreas Vesalius.

In 1559, Colombo published his work "De re anatomica libri XV." Michelangelo planned to collaborate with Colombo on an anatomical treatise. Condivi wrote: "He abandoned dissections because they disgusted him, so much so that he could neither eat nor drink profitably. It is quite true that he did not cease until he had become so learned and rich in knowledge that he often considered writing a treatise to assist those who wished to work in sculpture and painting, on all kinds of human movements and manifestations, as well as on the structure of bones, with the brilliant theory he had arrived at through long experience."

Michelangelo doubted his ability to present the material adequately, as someone trained in the sciences and the art of exposition would have done. The treatise was never completed. Scholars believe that Condivi passed on Michelangelo’s ideas on anatomy to Vincenzo Danti, who published the first volume of the proposed major anatomy book in 1567 under the title "Trattato delle perfette proporzioni." Colombo’s text, "De Re Anatomica," was printed without Michelangelo’s illustrations.

Anatomy and architecture

Michelangelo saw a direct connection between anatomy and architecture. In a letter to Cardinal Ridolfo Pio di Carpi, he stated: "It is quite obvious that the elements of architecture depend on the elements of man. Anyone who has not been or is not a good master of the figure, especially anatomy, cannot understand this." He viewed muscles, nerves, and human proportions as metaphors for certain elements of architecture.

After 1545, Michelangelo devoted himself primarily to poetry and architecture. He redesigned the Piazza del Campidoglio, the Capitoline Square, for Pope Paul III. In 1546, after the death of the architect Antonio da Sangallo, Pope Paul III appointed Michelangelo to oversee the construction of the new St. Peter’s Basilica, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church. The primary task was the design of a grand dome over the church’s crossing. Michelangelo did not live to see the dome’s completion; by the time of his death in 1564, only the drum was nearly completed.

Context: Anatomy in the Renaissance

Italian Renaissance artists of the 15th and 16th centuries studied the human form out of necessity, striving for a more lively, sculptural depiction of the human figure. The Florentine Academy of Art had a mandatory anatomy course, in which students drew from cadavers and skeletons when available. Few artists performed dissections themselves, but most attended public dissections performed by local physicians and studied existing anatomical texts.

The Church considered autopsies a desecration of the dead, but periodically permitted the dissection of the bodies of executed criminals. The practice of public dissections became widespread in the 16th century. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci participated in these events. In 1543, when Michelangelo was 68, Andreas Vesalius published "De humani corporis fabrica" — a revolutionary work that systematically represented the structure of the human body based on the results of human dissections. Vesalius advocated human dissection over animal dissection as a means of more accurately understanding anatomy.

Precision and artistic freedom

Researchers have claimed that Michelangelo altered and invented muscles for artistic purposes, but analysis shows this was rare. Contrary to some assessments, studies of Michelangelo’s art have revealed that his depictions were anatomically extremely accurate. What appear to be anatomically unusual features are often based on his observations of superficial muscles in natural, active poses for the purposes of perspective and what we now call artistic freedom.

Michelangelo’s anatomical knowledge allowed him to depict not just static forms, but dynamic bodies, full of life and movement. He understood how muscles stretch and contract, and how their contours change in different body positions. This ability to convey the body in motion, rather than in a frozen state, distinguished his work from that of many of his contemporaries, who relied solely on classical models.

Hidden anatomy in works

Some researchers believe Michelangelo concealed anatomical images within his works. Suk and Tamargo argue that in the fresco "The Creator Separating Light from Darkness" on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the figure of the Creator displays a goiter, which remained unnoticed for nearly five hundred years. The neck also resembles the brainstem, including the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata.

The Creator’s mantle in the image "The Creator Separating Earth from the Waters" is shaped like the right kidney. Within the mantle are three cherubs, observing the cosmic movements. Colombo treated Michelangelo for kidney stones in 1549, and the artist may have suffered from gouty arthritis in 1555, which makes uric acid stones more likely to form. Familiarity with renal anatomy may have influenced the choice of this form.

In the "Creation of Eve" depiction, the Creator’s robe is said to resemble the shape of a left lung. In "Judith and Holofernes," Holofernes’s body is thought to resemble a spinal vertebra. These interpretations remain controversial. Some scholars consider them overly fanciful, based solely on the imagination of those viewing the depictions.

The Legacy of Michelangelo’s Anatomical Research

Michelangelo set a standard for depicting the human body that influenced generations of artists. His frescoes in the Sistine Chapel became the primary source of the Mannerist style. Artists in subsequent centuries studied his works as models for understanding anatomy and depicting the human figure. Wax copies of his works were used for anatomical purposes until the 19th century.

Michelangelo’s approach to anatomy demonstrated that art and science can complement each other. He demonstrated that a deep understanding of the structure of the human body enhances the expressiveness of an artwork. His figures convey not only physical form but also emotional and spiritual states. The powerful anatomical forms Michelangelo acquired through his detailed studies of cadavers and living models became a means of expressing profound emotions.

Modern scholars continue to study the anatomical aspects of Michelangelo’s works, discovering new details and interpretations. His works remain the subject of medical research, identifying possible depictions of pathologies or anatomical structures. The debate surrounding these interpretations demonstrates how complex and multilayered the great master’s works remain.

Michelangelo died in 1564 at the age of eighty-eight, leaving behind a body of work that continues to fascinate viewers more than four centuries later. His devotion to the study of anatomy, which began in his youth in the mortuary of Santo Spirito and continued throughout his life, enabled him to create works of art in which the human body is presented as the physical manifestation of emotional and spiritual states. This tradition, revived by Michelangelo in post-classical art, defined the development of Western art for centuries to come.