Leonardo da Vinci Gallery

1490 Leonardo Da Vinci colour portrait

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and inventor (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519). Engraved portrait by J. Posselwhite in The Gallery of Portraits 1835 with later colouring, ascribed from the engraving by Raffaelle Morghen, (itself after the undated self portrait by Leonardo da Vinci). Da Vinci was one of the most diversely talented people to have ever lived. His contributions to science include principally; anatomy, engineering and invention. Fritjof Capra (2007) argues that Leonardo's scientific approach was more integrated and holistic than Gallileo's or Newton's - making him a more direct antecedant of modern systems and complexity theory than those scientists. Darwin reportedly kept a version of this print as a muse on his study wall at Christ's College Cambridge

© This image is Paul D. Stewart 2009. Do not reproduce without permission of the photographer at Stewartpauld@aol.com.

Female anatomy

Female anatomy. Historical artwork of thefemale anatomy by the Italian artist andscientist, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Theprincipal organs shown are the heart (uppercentre, to right of the spinal column), liver(centre left), spleen (centre right), kidneys(darker organs below the liver and spleen) andbladder (lower centre). Major blood vessels areseen throughout the body. The trachea, orwindpipe, is seen at top centre. Da Vinci studiedhuman anatomy by observation and dissection. Heproduced a detailed series of annotated anatomicaldrawings, which are amongst the most significantscientific achievements of the Renaissance period

© Sheila Terry/Science Photo Library

Armoured vehicle

Armoured vehicle. Historical artwork of a design for an armoured tank by the Italian artist, engineer and scientist Leonardo da Vinci (1452- 1519). Leonardo wrote of his vehicles: "I can make armoured cars; safe and unassailable which will enter the serried ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and there is no company of men at arms so great that they will not break through". The tank was designed to have eight men inside it who made it move

© Sheila Terry/Science Photo Library