Early depictions of the nasal turbinates in the 15th century

Although nasal turbinates had already been described by Hippocrates, it was not until the 15th century that they were depicted. The inferior turbinate was shown for the first time rather true-to nature in the works of the Middle Rhenic Master circa 1450-1460 and Leonardo da Vinci in 1489. The posterior ends of the middle turbinates were depicted on a woodcut by Georg Thomas for Dryander's "Anatomiae ... pars prior" in 1536. These and a few other examples show that some artists were ahead of the medical profession in demonstrating anatomical details in the 15th and 16th century.