xcept for the European Renaissance, no culture in human history has contributed so much to visual anatomy as did the Greeks. The artwork depicting the human form from that period is legendary. The Greek artists during the Archaic period (650 -480 B.C.) combined narrative intent with stylistic naturalism (Gombrich, 1961). Images were important, not for just the message they conveyed, but also for their inherent aesthetic appeal. The medium-the human figure-was more important than the message (Boardman, 1994a).
The Archaic Greek period spanned approximately 170 years, to the start of the Classical period. The anatomy in Greek art can be studied both from a morphological as well as a stylistic approach. Leonardo da Vinci coined the phrase "Sapere come vedere" -to know how to see. For fuller appreciation, one needs to see not only what is apparent to the eye, but also to understand the use of the human form-the medium-to convey the message of the work of art. The evolution in style from the early specimens to later ones can be attributed to advances in the Greeks' knowledge of anatomy, the acquisition of sophisticated sculptural skills, and the urge to express more complicated feelings and emotions through anatomy. Anatomical depiction of young men, called kouroi, went from the rudimentary to those that were almost perfect specimens, and were narrative in that anatomy was used to convey feelings and emotions.