Michelangelo, ocular bulb, retina and the Creator

Michelangelo, bulbo ocular, retina e o Criador

We are reporting on the recent description published¹ in this journal that describes the interesting perspective for previous descriptions² of the fresco Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants of the Michelangelo Bounarroti (1475-1564). However, we have a slightly different perspective, in relation to the optic nerves.

According to this description¹, the nerves would be represented by the heels/feet of the Creator. In our understanding, the heels/feet would be the retina forming part of the ocular bulb (Figure), because when the execution of the fresco, it was already known the relationship between the optic nerve and the ocular bulb².

Figure
(A) Detail of Michelangelo fresco (1511): “Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants” - Heels (1); Legs (2); Sun (3) (Barreto and Oliveira, 2004); (B) Note the similarity between the Sun of the fresco and the retina (3); (C) Drawing showing the ocular bulb/retina (1) connection to the optic nerve (2) (Netter, FH. Atlas of Human Anatomy. 4th Ed. Philadelphia, Saunders, 2006).

Besides these anatomical similarities, we can say that both the foot sole somatosensation as visual sensory feedback networks plays a critical role among the active feedback loops that contribute to the control of standing and walking³,⁴. Of course, at the time of the Michelangelo there was still no proper knowledge of neuronal interactions currently recognized between somatosensory systems, visual, vestibular, numerous brain regions, and the musculoskeletal⁵.

However, we infer that Michelangelo, being a student of Anatomy and Physiology, already knew that the function of heels/feet on the perception of the environment is very similar to the perceptual function of the retina; and this may indeed have influenced Michelangelo in creating this fresco. In addition, the fresco own name: Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants in the report is words like sun = light that is perceived and processed by the retina.

References

• ¹
  Maranhão-Filho P, Vincent MB. Michelangelo, mammillary bodies and the Creator. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2015;73(2):175. doi:10.1590/0004-282X20140203
• ²
  Barreto G, Oliveira MG. Uma lição de anatomia na Capela Sistina. São Paulo: ARX; 2004. p. 78-9.
• ³
  Giagazoglou P, Amiridis IG, Zafeiridis A, Thimara M, Kouvelioti V, Kellis E. Static balance control and lower limb strength in blind and sighted women. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2009;107(5):571-9. doi:10.1007/s00421-009-1163-x
• ⁴
  Hao Y, Manor B, Liu J, Zhang K, Chai Y, Lipsitz L et al. A novel MRI-compatible tactile stimulator for cortical mapping of foot sole pressure stimuli with fMRI. Magn Reson Med. 2013;69(4):1194-9. doi:10.1002/mrm.24330
• ⁵
  Manor B, Costa MD, Hu K, Newton E, Starobinets O, Kang HG et al. Physiological complexity and system adaptability: evidence from postural control dynamics of older adults. J Appl Physiol. 2010;109(6):1786-91. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00390.2010

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Sept 2015

History

• Received
  18 Apr 2015
• Reviewed
  30 Apr 2015
• Accepted
  19 May 2015