FL Mershberger (1990) An interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam based on neuroanatomy: "God, in the process of creating Adam, gives him the gift of ‘intellect,’ symbolized by the brain."
In the Renaissance, artists studied anatomy almost by necessity in order to capture a more lifelike portrayal of the human body in their art. But did they go a step further and try to incorporate neuroscience (in form of anatomically correct brain) in their paintings?
Here's a neat post from Street Anatomy exploring a recent article published by neuroscientists about brain imagery in Renaissance religious masterpieces:
During the Renaissance, scholars began to rely more on empirical evidence, especially in the anatomical sciences. The teachings of Galen, which were often based on studies of animals rather than humans, dominated for centuries. It wasn’t until Da Vinci and Vesalius came along that anatomy was jump-started once again. Artists were especially fascinated, but with most of their commissions coming from the religious clergy, how could they show off their deeper knowledge of the human body without being sacreligious? They had to hide it in their artwork.