The plates were purchased by the ISS for its Library from the Olschki antiquarian bookshop in Rome in 1943. Described in 1949 in Massimo Pantaleoni's volume, they date to the youth of the famous Italian artist, who, like other artists of the time, certainly followed the study of anatomy in his formative path, as these plates seem to confirm. They are part of a larger collection and capture on cardboard the anatomical knowledge, particularly that of the myology, of the young Canova. The artist used graphite (black) to outline the tendons and accessory anatomical parts, while the muscles are highlighted with the use of sanguine (hematite, red ochre). The 17 drawings are accompanied by an autographed manuscript notebook, which the artist entitled Descrizione de muscolo esterni del corpo humano. On the last page of the notebook, a declaration signed by Cavalier Giuseppe D'Este, drawn up in Rome in March 1850, certifies, based on the signatory's direct knowledge, the attribution of the panels and notebook to the great Venetian sculptor. Cavalier D'Este was part of the circle of artists or art experts in Rome in the first half of the nineteenth century; he was the author of several publications, including "Letter to the Eminent Massimiliano Laboreur, Professor of Sculpture," published in Rome in 1828 by Giuseppe Salviucci and son, and he signed himself as Deputy Director of the Vatican Museum.

The panels are currently housed in the Rare Collection Room of the ISS Library, managed by the Rare Collection Group of the Scientific Communication Service - Istituto Superiore di Sanità - Rome.