Edith Sherwood Ph.D.

Leonardo da Vinci and the Voynich Manuscript

Figure 5 - Childlike Drawings Back to Article
Figure 5 - Childlike Drawings

The biological drawings have a childlike quality. One drawing, s3724838 (Figure 5), shows one of the little ladies, as the arrow indicates, with both breasts and male genitalia. This is hardly an adult error. This picture also depicts the union of a sperm with an ova, indicating an extraordinary insight into human reproduction. The author of these pictures was however unfamiliar with human female anatomy, but had probably observed the dissection of a female dog or pig. Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of a fetus are extraordinary and as an adult he would not have made this type of error.