“The Body Inside and Out: Anatomical Literature and Art Theory” is at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art through January 23.

The exhibition consists of

a selection of anatomy books, treatises on proportion, and artists’ manuals produced throughout Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries that show how the study of anatomy was incorporated into the instruction of the visual arts. During the Renaissance many painters and sculptors, including Leonardo and Michelangelo, worked with anatomists to improve their work. From this grew a more scientific approach to the rendering of figures and a greater focus on proper proportion as the ideal of truth and beauty.