The renal corpuscle, also known as a Malpighian corpuscle, is the essential portion of the nephron. It consists of a renal glomerulus and Bowman's capsule. The corpuscle has two poles: the vascular pole and urinary pole. At the vascular pole, the afferent arteriole (which supplies the capillary network of the glomerulus) enters, and the efferent arteriole (which collects the blood from the capillaries) leaves the corpuscle. The urinary pole is the beginning of the proximal convoluted tubule; it is continuous with Bowman's space.

Bowman's capsule is a double-walled envelope that holds the glomerulus. The parietal layer of the capsule is composed of simple squamous epithelial cells that are continuous with the cuboidal cells of the proximal tubules at the urinary pole. The visceral layer is made up of podocytes whose feet surround the glomerular capillaries, forming one of the layers of the filtration barrier.