Leonardo da Vinci

In his notebooks, Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci recorded insights into topics as diverse as flying machines, hydrodynamics, and the human soul. He proposed a course of study for an aspiring painter, which included a thorough investigation of human anatomy. In this excerpt, Leonardo describes the measurements that led to the creation of one of his best-known drawings—a man inscribed within the dimensions of a square and a circle. Editor Irma A. Richter provides introductions to the following passages on human structure and movement from Leonardo’s notebooks.
source: Microsoft ® Encarta

THE LIFE AND STRUCTURE OF THINGS
a. Proportion
b. The anatomy and movement of the body
c. How it is necessary for the painter to know the inner structure of man
of the hand from within
on the grace of the limbs
of human movements
one and the same action seen from various places