Artists and sculptors studied anatomy in the hospitals and universities in order to understand the anatomical structure for research and accurate depictions of the human body through artistic representation.

The anatomical accuracy that I witnessed in the statues, frescoes, and paintings was completely stunning. Not only was the physique of the ancient Romans impressive, but the artists’ knowledge of the musculature, proportions, and anatomical location within the physical body was completely mind blowing.

Can you imagine studying anatomy at university and attending cadaver labs in order to understand how to accurately recreate the body in artistic form?

The reason this blows me away is because I have studied anatomy in university and massage school for over 5 years. While I don’t use it on the regular anymore, I can regurgitate muscle names and functions, origins and attachments, and my hands can often find all of these spots without hardly even thinking about it. But, not once have I considered my knowledge of the body to be artistic. To me, it’s always been “science”—Bachelor of “Science”.

Learning about the body has always been "medical" to me. But standing in any given spot in Italy, it was so blatantly obvious that the body is one of the most majestic works of art ever created, and it is no wonder that it was so cherished and honoured in its artistic form.

How majestic and mind-blowing is that?