Jane Roberts (2) (1949–2021)

Leonardo da Vinci : Anatomical Drawings from the Royal Collection

London: Royal Academy of Arts 1977, 159pp incl. 89 b/w plates

The catalogue to the exhibition in the Private Rooms at Burlington House, 1977.

Contents:
Antony Blunt: Foreword
Carlo Pedretti: Introduction
Kenneth D. Keele: Leonardo da Vinci, the Anatomist
Catalogue of Drawings with notes by Jane Roberts, ordered by subject: The Internal Organs (1-2) – Early Anatomical Studies (3-7) – Head and Brain (8-11) – The Alimentary and Reproductory Systems (12-19) – Muscles and Skeleton (20-33) – The Heart (34-38) – Comparative Anatomy (39-42) – Human Proportions (43-46) – The Nude (47-50)
Chronological Table – Glossary – Note and Table of Concordance – Bibliographical Note

Concordance:

Royal Library | this work (1977) | Popham (1952)

12281 recto & verso ..........2A & B.................recto: 247
12304 recto .............................44
12372 recto .............................40 .......................... 226
12374 ....................................... - ........................... 225
12593 ....................................... - ........................... 238
12594 ....................................... - ........................... 231
12596 recto ............................ 50 .......................... 233
12597 recto .............................. 1 .......................... 232
12601 ....................................... - ........................... 216
12603 recto .............................. 9 .......................... 227
12609 recto ..... 6A + 6A(uv-light)
12609 verso .... 6B + 6B(uv-light)
12612 ....................................... - ........................... 250
12613 recto ..... 5A + 5A(uv-light)
12613 verso..... 5B + 5B(uv-light) ........................... 214
12617 recto .......... 4 + 4(uv-light)
12619 ....................................... - ........................... 241
12623 recto ........................... 48 ........................... 236
12625 recto ........................... 42 ........................... 230
12626 recto .......... 7 + 7(uv-light)
12627 recto ...... 3A +3A(uv-light)
12627 verso ......................... 3 B
12629 ...................................... - ............................ 234
12630 ...................................... - ............................ 242
12631 r & v 49A & B recto: 239
12632 - 221
12633 r & v 49A & B
12637 r 47 222
12638 - 223
12640 - 237
12656 r 39
19000 r & v 31 B & A
19001 v - 243
19002 r & v 29 A & B
19003 r & v 27 A & B 245, 244
19004 v - 251
19005 r & v 25 B & A
19007 r & v 20 B & A
19008 r & v 26 B & A
19009 r & v 32 B & A
19011 r & v 33 A & B
19012 r & v 30 A & B verso: 246
19014 r & v 28 B & A
19020 r & v 22 B & A
19029 - 240
19031 r & v 12 B & A
19034 r & v 23 B & A
19040 r & v 21 A & B
19052 r 11
19054 r & v 13 B & A
19055 r & v 15 A & B
19057 r & v 8A & B recto: 217
19058 r & v - 218, 219
19059 - 220
19071 r 34
19073-74 r & v 35 B & A 19074 v: 249
19075 v 24 252
19080 r 36
19082 r 38
19095 r & v 17 A & B
19097 r & v 16 B & A
19098 v 14
19101 r & v 18 A & B
19102 r & v 19 A & B recto: 248
19108 v 41
19118-19 r & v 37 B & A
19127 r 10
19132 r 43 224
19134-35 r 46
19136-39 v& r 45 B & A

not in the Royal Library:

Human Figure in a Circle, illustr. Proportions 215
Study of the Body and Leg of a Man 235

The drawings collected in this catalogue show that one should not pay too much attention to Popham’s claim to have included in his 1946 compilation ‘practically all the drawings which have any interest for the student of Leonardo as a painter or sculptor’. He left out beautiful drawings like 19002 r&v,19005 r&v, 19011 r&v and others among them the famous coitus drawing (19097v, based on traditional notions drawn from Avicenna and Galen rather than dissection) which Freud analysed in a footnote he added 1919 to ‘Eine Kindheitserinnerung des Leonardo da Vinci’ (Freud saw only a copy of a copy and was unaware of divergences from the original).
The drawings are printed showing less contrast than in Popham (1952) but, as in the latter, the sheets are reproduced in their entirety (unlike most of those available in the Internet).
The notes by Jane Roberts of the Royal Library are based on the research by Kenneth D. Keele and are extensive and brilliantly informative.
This catalogue is now superseded by the three-volume ‘Corpus of the anatomical studies in the collection of H.M. the Queen at Windsor Castle’ (1979-80) edited by Kenneth D. Keele and Carlo Pedretti (that is if you are lucky enough to have access to a library that holds this set, only 998 were printed). (VII-10)… (more)