A study of a nude man standing with his legs apart, seen from behind by Leonardo Da Vinci c.1504-1505 [1399×2250]

[Interesting background on this piece and for a collection of Da Vinci drawings](https://www.rct.uk/collection/exhibitions/leonardo-da-vinci-a-life-in-drawing/a-standing-male-nude-0)

Here the model spreads his legs equally to balance his weight distribution, and in other drawings from the same series he supported his arms by holding sticks so as to put no strain on the shoulder muscles. While it was important for expressive purposes to know how to draw the muscles in tension, it was just as important to know how to draw them when relaxed. Leonardo stated in a note of the same period – perhaps with a sideswipe at contemporaries such as Luca Signorelli:

‘You should not make all the muscles of your figures conspicuous; even if they are shown in the correct place they should not be made too evident, unless the limbs to which they belong are engaged in the exertion of great force or labour; and the limbs that are not under strain should have no such display of musculature. If you do otherwise you will have produced a sack of nuts rather than a human figure.’