Pictures at an exhibition

Leonardo da Vinci was clearly interested in what made things work. This included the workings of thee and me.

The current Queens Gallery exhibition of his anatomical drawings is a must-see, thrillingly interesting because it shows him to be so thrillingly interested in how we're put together.

Leonardo epitomises the Renaissance - where philosophical theory was being held up to the light of empirical research. One of the best things about this exhibition is that it shows what he thought he might find - and his excitement and interest when this did not match up with what what he discovered through dissection. He recorded his theories and findings in beautiful detailed drawings , heavily annotated with his right-to-left mirror written notes.

He was clearlyvery excited. It is impossible not to be equally excited when looking at these wonderfully delicate and heavily annotated pages of his findings.

And on one - a detailed diagram of the internal workings of a woman - his thumbprint still remains.. .