"I think Leonardo could have made something like this," says Carmine. "He had an excellent understanding of anatomy. But look closer. It's made of plastic, which wasn't invented until the twentieth century. I think the time meddler left this here."

"Too bad. Leonardo could have used a skeleton like this. He and other Renaissance artists wanted to understand the human body better, so—it being the Renaissance—they used science in their art!

"They studied and dissected dead human bodies to see how the bones, muscles, and organs worked! At first, they had to work secretly, since dissecting corpses was unheard of. But as Renaissance ideas spread, more people accepted the idea of studying nature."

Leonardo studied the proportions of the head.

"Leonardo was especially interested in body proportions. From his studies, he figured out the mathematical proportions of the human body. Here are a few of his ideas:

"Can you assemble these body parts of one of his most famous sketches? Drag each part into the circle. To get the right proportions, you may have to make some parts larger (by clicking on it while pressing your UP arrow), or smaller (by clicking on it while pressing your DOWN arrow). When you get it right, you'll see Leonardo's original drawing!"

"Of course, Leonardo wasn't the only Renaissance artist interested in showing the human body realistically. His rival Michelangelo devoted himself to 'the making of men,' as he called his art. One of Michelangelo's greatest works is this sculpture of 'David' just before David slayed Goliath.

"Now we have to decide what to do with this plastic skeleton. What should we do with it?"

Take it with us,
or
Put it back

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