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Chest clinic
IMAGES IN THORAX
Leonardo da Vinci and the first portrayal
of pectus excavatum
Hutan Ashrafian
Department of Surgery and
Cancer, Imperial College
London, London, UK
Correspondence to
Hutan Ashrafian, The
Department of Surgery and
Cancer, Imperial College
London, 10th Floor QEQMBuilding, Praed Street, London
W2 1NY, UK; h.ashrafian@
imperial.ac.uk
Received 6 January 2013
Revised 14 January 2013
Accepted 15 January 2013
Published Online First
6 February 2013
Studying one of Leonardo da Vinci's images from
1510, I note for the first time that there is an
image of pectus excavatum (figure 1) in an elderly
individual. This is unlikely to be artistic inaccuracy
as his images of others subjects do not reveal a
similar pathology. Pectus excavatum was until now
first accredited to Johannes Schenck (1530–1598)1
reporting in the mid-to-late 16th century and
Johann Bauhin (1541–1613) who described a
patient with this disorder in 1594.2 Leonardo da
Vinci’s portrayal of pectus excavatum predates
these by eight decades; rendering it the first ever
depiction of this disorder.
Competing interests None.
REFERENCES
1
To cite: Ashrafian H. Thorax
2013;68:1081.
2
Ebstein E. Die Trichterbrust in ihren Beziehungen zur Konstitution.
Zeitschrift Fuer Konstitutionslehre 1921;8:103.
Bauhinus J. Observatio. In: Schenck von Grafenberg J. ed.
Observatorium medicarum, rararum, novarum, admirabilium, et
montrosarum, liber secundus. Frankfurt, 1609.
Ashrafian H. Thorax 2013;68:1081. doi:10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-203224
Figure 1 Image of the upper thorax demonstrating
pectus excavatum. Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1510–1511.
Supplied by Royal Collection Trust/© HM Queen Elizabeth
II 2013.
1081
Chest clinic
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer
reviewed.
Downloaded from http://thorax.bmj.com/ on June 16, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com
Leonardo da Vinci and the first portrayal of
pectus excavatum
Hutan Ashrafian
Thorax 2013 68: 1081 originally published online February 6, 2013
doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2013-203224
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