Top 10 Medical Drawings of the Eye or Visual Pathway
By Liza Shevchuk
About the Photo
1. Cells in the Retina of the Eye
Santiago Ramón y Cajal, 1904
“Cajal’s drawings of the retina are as beautiful as they are anatomically accurate. Of course, at that time, photography had not matured and renderings were the best way for scientists like Cajal to share their observations.” – Austin Roorda, PhD
Photo Credit: Courtesy of El Instituto Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
2. Sagittal and Horizontal Sections of the Human Head
Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1490
“Leonardo had some of the early ideas about how the eye connected to the brain— although they were a little bit off!” – Dennis Levi, OD, PhD
3. Visual System
Greg Dunn, PhD, 2022
“I particularly like this piece because it is detailed, colorful, and abstract, while representative of ‘how the brain weaves visual data into and out of our attentional networks, emotional and mnemonic systems, and other senses to create our visual experience.’ I also like the golden light, which looks like it could actually be coming from the eyes. – Emily Ward, PhD student
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Greg Dunn: 22K gold, ink, marker, and pencil on paper, 24” X 32” – prints available at www.gregadunn.com.
4. Schema Optic System Retinogeniculostriate Visual Pathway
Frank Netter, 1953
“Very simplified, but so elegant, and a frequent reference check for me during grad school.” – Gary Walker, PhD ’98
5. Monkey Visual System
Felleman & Van Essen, 1991
"The visual anatomical hierarchy in the macaque monkey described by Felleman and Van Essen “shows the incomprehensible complexity of the visual system.” – Gary Walker, PhD ’98
6. Tarsal Plates and Lacrimal System from “The Human Eye”
Gladys McHugh, 1943
“The stereographic paintings in this book, a favorite of mine, are amazingly well done and innovative for the time—each image has eight transparencies that can be layered over the illustration to give focus on specific functions of the eye.” – John Flanagan, PhD, DSc, FCOptom
7. Theory of Vision, from “Opera Philosophica”
René Descartes, ca. 1692
“Descartes argued that we see singly because there is a specialized ‘fusion center’ in the brain that combines the information from the two eyes (although he had it in the pineal gland!).” – Dennis Levi, OD, PhD
8. Structure of the Eye and Optic Nerves
Peter Degravers, ca. 1780
“I love the way this cutaway image of the eye and optic nerves, which is actually an engraving, reveals a stylized, fantasy-like view of the visual system’s mechanics.” – Anonymous
9. Eye Anatomy, from “Astronomiae Pars Optica”
Johannes Kepler, ca. 1604
“I like that Kepler shows the anatomy of the eye across different stages of dissection.” – Reem Almagati, OD, MS and VS Student
10. Diagram of the Eyes, from the “Book of Optics”
Ibn al-Haytham, ca. 1200
“I like the simplicity of the drawing yet there’s attention to detail like the fibers from the nasal retina crossing to the opposite side of the brain.”– Reem Almagati, OD, MS and VS Student
Full-Sized Images
To view each full-sized image, please click the button below.
Top 10 DrawingsRead More
To read more from our Fall 2023 edition of the Berkeley Optometry Magazine, and previous editions: click the buttons below.