Human body. Drawing of the movement of a male human body by the Italian artist and scientist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Here, he shows how the movement of the limbs can be described on the perimeters of a circle and a square. Also shown is Leonardo's mirror writing. He wrote backwards with his left hand to achieve this script. Leonardo wrote thousands of pages of illustrated notes in this manner. This may have been to prevent his ideas falling into hostile hands or to avoid charges of religious heresy.