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Human Body Study

Anterior view

The anterior (front) view is the body in anatomical position seen face-to-face. Three of the directional axes lie in the plane of the page, so they can be drawn with arrows; anterior and posterior point straight out of and into the page, so they are marked with badges instead.

The body in anatomical position, anterior view A schematic of a person in anatomical position seen from the front: upright, facing forward, arms at the sides, palms forward. Directional terms visible from this angle are labelled — superior and inferior on the vertical axis, medial and lateral horizontally, proximal and distal along the arm. Anterior is marked with a circle-dot badge on the chest and posterior with a circle-cross badge to one side, since they point out of and into the page. Anterior view from the front cranial thoracic abdomino- pelvic midline Superior Inferior Proximal Distal (along a limb) Medial Lateral (toward / away from midline) Anterior Posterior Anterior/Posterior point out of and into the page.

What it shows

Section titled “What it shows”
  • Superior / inferior — head up, feet down.
  • Medial / lateral — toward the midline vs away from it.
  • Proximal / distal — closer to the limb root vs farther toward the tip.
  • Anterior — a ⊙ on the chest, since the front of the body points toward the viewer.
  • Posterior — a ⊗ behind the figure, pointing into the page.

The dashed midline runs through the centre of the figure, separating the body’s left and right halves.

Body cavities visible

Section titled “Body cavities visible”

The three body cavities — cranial, thoracic, and abdominopelvic — stack along the midline, faintly shaded inside the silhouette.

Key idea

Section titled “Key idea”

The front view makes superior/inferior, medial/lateral, and proximal/distal obvious — but reminds you that anterior and posterior are a separate axis, perpendicular to the page.