Neck arteries. Historical illustration of the arteries of the neck and shoulder. The arteries are coloured red to show that they supply oxygenated blood. The major artery seen in the neck is the carotid artery which branches out to different regions of the head. Branching out from the centre of the chest, the subclavian artery runs across the shoulder and becomes the brachial artery of the upper arm. Colour lithograph by Fairland from The Vessels of the Human Body, 1837. Based on drawings by J. Swandale.