MICHELANGELO'S
REVEALING ART
G'day folks,
In a previous post, I showcased how certain
details of the Sistine Chapel wall painting called the 'The Creation of
Adam' by Michelangelo have anatomical references, but it turns out that
the famous fresco is by far not the only reference to brain anatomy in
the chapel created by Michelangelo.
Another fresco titled 'The
Separation of Light from Darkness', too, contains several anatomical
references, namely to the cerebellum, optic nerves, the spinal cord, and
the brainstem.
But how could the famous sculptor have such an excellent knowledge of
anatomy, weren't dissections prohibited by the church at the time? Well,
it actually turns out that for a short period at the beginning of the
16th century, when Michelangelo was a young man, public dissections of
condemned criminals were briefly allowed by the Catholic Church.
The
young artist participated in around 30 such autopsies and made several
anatomically-accurate sketches, which were discovered in the early
1600s. So, it is very likely that his inclusion of these anatomical
brain structures in the Sistine Chapel was a way to share his knowledge.
Clancy's comment: Extraordinary.
I'm ...
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