Give the Guy a Hand

Collar Martin Clayton, Head of Prints and Drawings from the Royal Collection Trust, and ask him which of the dozens of Leonardo da Vinci sketches, currently on loan to BMAG, is the most breath-taking. He might make a beeline to this one — it's where he took us. The anatomical accuracy of Leonardo’s goose-quilled drawings has rarely been surpassed in any form, with many still using them to teach surgeons today. Here his dissections of the hand provide a multi-layered investigation of bones and muscles, approached with the eye of an engineer or architect. The exhibition also includes A sheet of miscellaneous studies which includes details invisible to the naked eye. Because he was that kind of frightening genius. The exhibition will never return to Birmingham. Never is a long time. Until May 6, free. Or nab a spot on an after-hours evening tour (£15): new dates just added.

Picture: Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II