The interaction between art and science was high during the Renaissance and it declined later to return significantly in the 20th century, mainly with the use of identification techniques, dating of art works and the development of new materials. The relationship between plastic arts and hand surgery is intense and artistic reproductions of hands are frequent in the illustration of scientific texts. With the objective of understanding the role of the hand in plastic arts, reproductions of works of art (sculptures and paintings) representative of several periods or styles in the history of art were analyzed emphasizing the study of the hands. Anatomical details, relationship with other structures of the human body, role in the composition and symbolic aspects of the hands were studied in historical and artistic contexts of art works in the Paleolithic period (pre-history) until the 20th century. The representation of the hands in plastic arts is directly related to the style or period of the work and to the individual ability of interpretation and execution by the artist.
Hand; art; history of the art
