Programme for dissecting the leg; a male nude
A note to anatomise the leg to the hip, layer by layer, beside a nude sketch
A red-chalk note sets out a programme for dissecting the leg up to the hip from every side, in every action, and through all its layers: veins, arteries, nerves, tendons and muscles, skin and bones, and finally the bones sawn through to gauge their thickness. At the right of the page stands a lightly drawn nude male figure in red chalk. Heavy offset and show-through from the facing leaves crosses the sheet.
On this page
Anatomise the leg from every side and layer
Leonardo instructs himself to dissect the leg up to the hip in every direction and pose, and through every layer: veins, arteries, nerves, tendons and muscles, then skin and bones. Finally the bones are to be sawn across so their thickness can be seen. It is a full programme of layered dissection of the lower limb.
Standing male nude
A slight red-chalk study of a nude man is drawn at the right of the leaf, the legs and torso lightly outlined. It accompanies the note as an image of the whole outward figure whose interior is to be dissected.