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Nature 423, 921 (26 June 2003) | doi:10.1038/423921b

Illustration: A fine body of work

Mary Purton

Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical drawings, such as those of the shoulder shown here, may have been undertaken primarily out of an artistic desire to perfect his representation of the human body. They were influenced by the prevailing dogma of medical anatomy, as established by the Greek anatomist Galen some 1,400 years earlier.