Anatomy Lessons From the Great Masters

Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters provides an anatomical counterpart to Robert Beverly Hale's classic reference book, Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters. Terence Coyle, who for several years assisted Hale at the Art Students League of New York, kept detailed notes of Hale's lectures and teaching methods. He combined these notes with 100 drawings to illustrate how the great masters portrayed specific parts of the human physique. As Hale points out, master artists such as Rembrandt, Leonardo, and Raphael "absorbed the technical details of anatomy so well that these details could be set down instinctively.... If an artist has to occupy his mind with the task of clumsily grouping the elemental facts of anatomy as he draws, there can be little room left for really important matters--such as the spirit of the drawing and the artist's expressive intent." Coyle provides several examples within the study of each anatomical area to illustrate the variety of styles and methods employed by the masters. The book treats, in order, the rib cage, the pelvis and thigh, the knee and lower leg, the foot, the shoulder girdle, the arm, the hand, and the neck and head. A complete series of anatomical reference plates by Dr. Paul Richer is included. By applying the timeless anatomical principles the great masters have handed down to us, any artist can begin to acquire the means by which to express the "really important matters." --Mary Ribesky