Michelangelo

Michelangelo the famous Italian painter and sculptor had equipped himself with a thorough knowledge of the human anatomy. He spent five years dissecting corpses! The knowledge came in handy for the outstanding pieces of art that he turned out. His famous statue David has been criticized for having hands and feet disproportionate to the torso. One explanation given for this aberration is that the statue was originally meant to stand atop the roof of a high Cathedral. And Michelangelo had used his expert knowledge of the human anatomy to exaggerate the size of the head and the hands in order to make the statue visible from a distance. However the statue was placed on ground level in front of an important government building and thus attracted criticism on its proportions.