The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

This page contains Leonardo's celebrated anatomical studies of the human fetus in the womb (c. 1511). He famously combines human observation with comparative anatomy. For instance, he incorrectly depicts the multi-lobed placenta of a cow cotyledonary placenta instead of the single, disc-shaped human placenta, likely because human specimens at this stage of pregnancy were rare.

In this fetus, the soul original: "anima" is not yet active; for if it were active there, the fetus would also be active; and the soul cannot reside in the body of a living being that does not act.

See how the vessels branch out.

Let a sketch be made of the nourishment of the uterus...

Tell me if the fetus has a pulse, and if it beats at the same time as the mother’s pulse. Also, tell me the origin of where the soul comes from, whether the fetus breathes or not, and why it cannot cry out or speak.

Also, determine whether the fetus has a pulse, and whether it moves or not... let the anatomy of the cord umbilical cord be completed...

CHILD IN THE WOMB

Royal Library, Windsor

Vocabulary: fetus, soul, uterus, placenta, cotyledons nodular patches on the placenta, umbilical cord, anatomy.