An écorché is a figure drawn, painted, or sculpted showing the muscles of the body without skin. Renaissance architect and theorist, Leon Battista Alberti recommended that when painters intend to depict a nude, they should first arrange the muscles and bones, then depict the overlying skin.1 [ Some of the first well known studies of this kind were performed by Leonardo da Vinci. His studies included dissecting the cadaver and creating detailed drawings of the subject. However, there are some accounts of this same practice taking place as far back as ancient Greece, though the specifics are not known.
The term écorché, meaning literally "flayed", came into usage via the French Academies (such as the École des Beaux Arts) in the 19th century. This form of study still continues a few select schools throughout the world, for example: The New York Academy of Art and the Art Students League of New York.
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