He is already recognised as one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance period.

Now a stunning new exhibition at Buckingham Palace demonstrates how Leonardo da Vinci was also one of the most ground-breaking anatomists of all time.

Indeed his findings dating from the late 1490s and early 1500s were so revolutionary that some could not be conclusively proved until the development of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanners in the 1980s, which use radio waves to take detailed pictures of the body.

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Among the 24 sketches never before seen included a detailed study of the right ventricle and valves of the heart

 

A closer examination of the right ventricle and tricuspid valve, left, and far right, Da Vinci pens his analysis of the movement inside the heart

 

Da Vanci explores the vessels of the neck and shoulder, left, and right, the bones and muscles of the shoulder

Da Vinci's fascination with the human body began through his desire to be 'true to nature' in his paintings and led him to embark on what can only be described as a campaign of dissection in hospitals and medical schools throughout Florence.

Many of the corpses he worked on were the bodies of executed criminals or those who had no relatives to claim them for burial.

He had hoped to publish his findings in a treatise on anatomy and had he done so, his discoveries would have transformed European knowledge on the subject.