At which Florence hospital was Leonardo permitted to dissect human corpses?

Leonardo was permitted to dissect human corpses at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence. Access to the hospital gave him an unusually direct way to study the structures beneath the surface of the body.

Santa Maria Nuova was founded in 1288 and became one of Florence’s major charitable medical institutions. During the Renaissance, hospitals cared for the sick and poor while also serving as places where medical knowledge could be developed. Leonardo’s work there formed part of a much wider anatomical investigation that continued in other cities and hospitals.

He examined skeletons, muscles, tendons, organs, blood vessels and the heart, recording his observations in meticulous drawings and notes. His aim was not simply medical description: as a painter, he needed to understand how bodies were constructed and moved. His anatomical studies also led him toward biomechanics and physiology, including investigations of the spine, muscles and circulation.

The hospital is sometimes confused with Santo Spirito, where Leonardo later dissected in Rome. Santa Maria Nuova is the Florence hospital associated with his early permitted dissections. It remains a working hospital and is widely described as one of the world’s oldest continuously operating hospitals.