Lower leg bones and ligaments. Historical anatomical artwork of lower leg bones (yellow) and ligaments (pale blue). Ligaments are bands of fibrous tissue that hold bones together at their joints. At far right is the fibula (a thin bone), next to the tibula (thicker bone). The way these two bones fit together in a left-hand leg is seen at far left. The ligaments are shown at lower left for a right-hand leg (the bone positions have been reversed). Above this are two artworks: the ankle end of the tibia (lower artwork) and the femur (upper leg bone) end of the tibia (upper artwork). Artwork from The Bones and Ligaments of the Human Body (Ed. Jones Quain, London, 1842).