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The exhibition at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, will show the artist's leather album of anatomical drawings from the 16th century.

From May 4, people will be able to get a closer look at the contents of the Leoni binding by visiting Leonardo da Vinci: Anatomist.

The revolutionary sketches of the human body were contained in the album for more than 300 years, and next month's exhibition will be the largest ever collective showing of them.

The artist, among the greats of the Renaissance period, filled the album with sketches of bones and muscles. He even detailed the heart and brain in his binder, with the drawings completed between 1489 and 1513.

Medical experts and historians have said that had the drawings been revealed as they were completed, they could have had a groundbreaking effect on how experts of the time understood the workings of the human body.

But instead they remained hidden within the covers of the leather album until much later, something which experts say preserved the drawings from the effects of time.

Exhibition curator Martin Clayton said: 'The Leoni binding is a hugely important part of the 500-year story of Leonardo's anatomical drawings.

'For 300 years the binding was effectively the tomb of the drawings.

'It kept them together, and in wonderful condition, but it also ensured that they were not circulated or published.

'Only around 1900 did they emerge from the binding, and we now know that they were among the most amazingly detailed and accurate anatomical drawings of all time.

'And this exhibition will be the greatest opportunity since Leonardo's death to marvel at his achievement.'

Experts have said The Queen's Gallery exhibition will see da Vinci ranked among history's most important anatomists.

Shane Gladstone