IMAGING AND IMAGINING THE BODY AS TEXT

Representations of the body, both artistic and scientific, are pervasive in our everyday lives. They engage
us in an ongoing dialogue about self and identity. Viewing these images forces us not only to examine the
intent of the image makers but also the intended function of the image. It provokes us to explore our
contemporary understanding of the human body within the contexts of the history of anatomical
representation and the advancements of science and medicine.

The human body has long been a source of inspiration and inquiry for artists and scientists, and, as
anatomical beings, we are drawn to and identify with the human form. This anatomical instinct is
embedded in our brains and defined by a collective cultural identity of the body that has been developed,
refined, and refigured over the history of anatomical representation.

As an exploration of human morphology, anatomy is more than an exercise in understanding the structure
of the human body: it is a form of self-reflection. Created by artists at the behest of anatomists, the
knowledge presented in images over the history of anatomical representation belongs as much to the artist
as it does the scientist. Early anatomical illustration required close collaboration between the artist and
scientist, and invites the question: what was the intent of both disciplines in producing these images? These
early representations of the human form were negotiated between the artist and the anatomist. They
adhered to shared conventions of art and science to produce images rich not only with scientific knowledge
but also deeper aesthetic and philosophical meaning. Early anatomy texts are a discourse on the human
body, not merely because they are a visual display of the tension between the arts and science, but also
because they are weighted with social, political, cultural, and religious meanings.

This early collaborative effort between the arts and sciences diverges under the strain of competing intent,
function, and evolving conventions of each discipline and their approach to the human body. Whereas
scientists were intent on imaging the body, artists imagined the body. While science stripped away the
broad moral and symbolic meaning of the human body to produce neutral medical knowledge adherent to
the purpose of healing, art upheld and explored those aspects of the human body that provoke emotional,
humanistic, and spiritual responses.

The discovery of the X-ray and subsequent development of other imaging modalities allowed for
visualization of the human body as never before and claimed clinical and diagnostic precedence. Technical
conventions of anatomical representation were solidified, further relegating aesthetic and philosophical
explorations of the human body primarily to the arts. Yet, while modern medical techniques and the images
they produce claim scientific neutrality, anatomical representations produced by science have informed
artists’ perceptions of the body, and in doing so pushed the boundaries of how we view the human body.

Drawn from the collections of the Special Collections Research Center, the Smart Museum of Art, and the
University of Chicago Medical Center, Imaging/Imagining: The Body as Text broadly explores the history
of anatomical representation from the Renaissance to the present and the evolving relationship between the
arts and science in producing representations that are both images and imaginings of the human body.

This exhibition forms part of a larger exploration of Imaging/Imagining: The Human Body in Anatomical
Representation. Two companion exhibitions are also on view: The Body as Art, at the Smart Museum of
Art; and The Body as Data, at the John Crerar Library.

Imaging/Imagining: The Body as Text is co-curated by Brian Callender, Assistant Professor of Medicine,
University of Chicago Medical Center, and Mindy Schwartz, Professor of Medicine,University of Chicago
Medical Center, in collaboration with Catherine Uecker, Rare Books Librarian, Special Collections
Research Center. Special thanks to Daniel Meyer, Joe Scott, Anne Leonard, Jenny Hart, Debra Werner,
Julie Lemon, and the Arts/Science Initiative of the University of Chicago.

Radiographic images were provided and curated by Stephen Thomas and Adam Schwertner.
CHRONOLOGY

Ancient and Medieval

The foundations of Western medical texts and imaging were laid in the ancient world. The art of healing
was well established in ancient Greece by the time of Hippocrates (ca. 300 BCE), and the treatises he
authored would be used as medical textbooks for centuries to come. Among those studying Hippocrates
and his contemporaries was the Greek physician Galen (130-200 CE), who has been called the “father of
anatomy and medical experimentation.” With the decline of the Roman Empire in the West, Greek medical
teachings fell into disfavor in Europe. The information collected by Greek physicians, however, was
preserved and built upon by Arab scholars—most notably Avicenna in his Canon of Medicine—and then
brought back to Europe with the advent of the Renaissance.

Incun 1486.A9
Avicenna (980-1037)
Liber canonis primus quem princeps aboali abinsceni de medicina edidit
Venice: P. Maufer et Socii, 1486
Rare Book Collection

Highly regarded as a philosopher and physician, Avicenna (also known as Ibn Sina) was often compared to
Galen in terms of the breadth of material he covered and its authority. His Canon of Medicine is the most
influential of the Arabic medical texts. It was translated into Latin in the 12th century and greatly
influenced Western medicine. In keeping with Islamic law, which generally prohibited portrayals of the
human form, the anatomical representations of this time were highly schematic and abstract and often
consisted of a series of five half-squatting (“frog-legged”) figures representing the five systems of the body:
bones, nerves, muscles, veins, and arteries. Avicenna’s influence declined by the 16th century, with
Western European humanists preferring the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Incun 1497.B739
Hieronymus Brunschwig (ca. 1450-ca. 1512)
Dis ist das Buch der Cirurgia
Augsburg: J. Schönsperger, 1497
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine
The Buch der Cirurgia was the first work on surgery published in German and one of the earliest German
medical works to include illustrations. In the preface, Brunschwig acknowledges that it was a compilation
of Ancient, Medieval, and Arabian texts. The “wound man” shown here was a popular tool in early
medical texts to illustrate all the possible injuries that a person might suffer in war or by accident.
f PA3996.A2 1609
Galen
Opera ex octava Juntarum edition…
Venice: Apud Juntas, 1609
Rare Book Collection

Galen was the preeminent physician-philosopher of his time. He produced a body of work that was
recognized as the most authoritative medical knowledge in physiology, anatomy, therapeutics, and
pharmaceuticals for over 1500 years. Well-educated in the works of Aristotle, Plato, and Hippocrates,
Galen was a practicing physician with his own pharmacy. In addition, as a physician to gladiators, Galen
had the opportunity to learn about anatomy through the treatment of wounds.

Numbering over three hundred works, Galen’s writings include the influential On Anatomical Procedures,
On the Actions of the Parts of the Human Body, and On Bones for Students. In his time, the function of
organs was a mystery, and many of Galen’s contributions and discoveries related to understanding the
structure and function of organs, including the brain, heart, lungs, and liver. Because human dissection was
forbidden at the time, Galen made significant contributions to anatomy and physiology through careful
observation and dissection of animals. Many of Galen’s theories and assumptions would later be proven
incorrect, but his contribution of careful observation, experimentation, and demonstration was a significant
foundation of medicine and science.

Galen’s works were translated into Arabic and thus preserved by Arab and Persian scholars. They
remained the authoritative teachings of medicine and anatomy through the middle ages and received
renewed attention by humanist scholars during the Renaissance, notably On Anatomical Procedures, which
contributed to the rebirth of dissection. Following the rise of Islam in the seventh century, Muslim scholars
translated the great works of ancient Greece, including those of Aristotle and Galen, and contributed their
own knowledge and findings. The subsequent translation of these works into Latin and their migration to
Europe form an important scientific link between the ancient world and Renaissance Europe.

The Pre-Modern Era: Primitives

Prior to 1543, medical and anatomical works were primarily text supplemented with a small number of
images. These images were primitive in the sense that they lacked anatomical detail, in part due to the
scientific knowledge of the time, but also due to the technical limitations of the printing process.
Moreover, these works adhered to the teachings of Galen, which was based on the dissection of animals,
including pigs and monkeys.

Not surprisingly, as anatomists would later prove, the anatomy described by Galen did not completely
correlate with the anatomy of the human body. Yet, the teachings of Galen, including his descriptions of
the human body, persisted as authoritative and remained unchallenged until Vesalius produced De humani
corporis fabrica libri septem (1543).

Of the interesting questions that these images elucidate, one that can be asked of any image along the
chronology of anatomical representation is: what purpose did the image serve at the time it was produced?
If a more detailed image of the human body existed at this time, would it have had greater value given?
R128.6.F7 1529 (2nd title in book), plate facing XIII
Hans von Gersdorff (d. 1529)
Feldtbuch der Wundartzney
Feldtbuch der Wundartzney. [Augspurg: Durch Hainrich Stayner, ca. 1530?]
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

A military surgeon with the Prussian army for most of his career, Gersdorff authored this influential work
on surgical techniques for war wounds. He expanded on the theories of Brunschwig and also used the
“wound man.” It was the first published work to illustrate an amputation.

QM21.B47 1522, leaf 70

Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (ca. 1460-ca. 1530)
Isagoge breves prelucide ac uberime in anatomiam humani corporis a communi medicorum academia
usitatam
Bonona: Benedictu Hectoris, 1522
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Breaking from the text-based anatomies of the middle-ages, Jacopo Berengario da Carpi’s Commentaria
super anatomia Mundini, published in 1522, was the first full-scale illustrated anatomy text. This work
was followed in 1523 by a smaller text, Isagogae breves.

Incun1500.K485, leaf ciij

Joannes de Ketham (active 15th century)
Fasciculus medicinae
Venice: Joannes and Gregorius de Gregoriis, de Forlivio, 1500
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Ketham’s Fasiculus medicinae was the first printed illustrated medical compendium. The illustrations in
this work speak to the medical knowledge and clinical abilities of the era. In addition to the illustration
presented here, this work also contains a “wound man,” depicting the various wounds man can suffer from,
and “astrological man,” depicting man in relation to the astrological signs.

The Early Modern Era

The publication of Vesalius’s Fabrica defined the early modern age of anatomical representation, what is
now considered the golden era of medical illustration. This period represents the transition from written
description of anatomy to visual representation. Following in the footsteps of artist-anatomists like
Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, the early modern era marks the high point of collaboration between
the artist and scientist. The cultural expectations of artists, anatomists, and the audience demanded that
anatomical representations ascribe more than a scientific meaning to the body; they also required moral,
social, and theological meaning. Thus the illustrations were imaginative images of “living” skeletons and
partially dissected cadavers engaging in visual metaphor, striking theatrical poses, coyly lifting their veil of
flesh, or swaying to the danse macabre. These figures struggled with life and death and reminded viewers
of their own mortality. The texts of this era were richly illustrated with artistic embellishments that
entertainingly conveyed messages beyond mere anatomical representation, forcing viewers to look more
closely at themselves as reflected in the image before them.

Vesalius
In 1543, Andreas Vesalius’s grand work, De humani corporis fabrica (On the fabric of the human body)
was published in Basel and marked the beginning of an anatomical revolution. This work set the standard
by which subsequent anatomy texts were measured and remains a seminal work in the history of medicine.
In contrast to the works that came before it, the knowledge presented in Fabrica was derived from direct
observation of dissections of the human body, thus challenging the authority of Galenic anatomy.
Vesalius’s insistence upon presenting knowledge learned from the “true book of the human body,” while
heretical to followers of Galen, was in the spirit of the scientific revolution and Renaissance that gave
primacy to scholarly observation.

The images of Fabrica, however, are more than neutral illustrations with only scientific intent. With
striking poses that are both artistic and highlight the anatomy, the images are a collaborative effort between
artists and anatomist. In keeping with the narrative function of illustration at that time, the images tell the
story of figures resisting mortality, struggling against and challenging the passing of time. Yet the science
behind the illustrations, obtained from direct observation, marked a watershed moment, declaring that true
anatomical knowledge, like most scientific knowledge, must be obtained from observation. By combining
anatomical knowledge learned from direct observation with artistic intent, Fabrica is a monumental
achievement of beautiful science.

f QM21.V588 c.2, p. 181

Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564)
De humani corporis fabrica libri septem
Basel: Ex officina Ioannis Oporini, 1543
Stanton A. Friedberg, M.D. Rare Book Collection of Rush University Medical Center at the University of
Chicago

The illustrations, engraved by artist Jan Stefan van Kalkar under the direction of Vesalius, were more
detailed, better drawn, composed and printed than any that came before them. Plagiarized and widely
disseminated, the images and text of Fabrica have stood the test of time and remained the anatomical text of
reference for generations.

f QM21.E8, p. 231
Charles Estienne (1504-ca. 1564)
La dissection des parties du corps humain divisee en trois livres
Paris: Simon de Colines, 1546
Rare Book Collection, From the Collection of Mortimer Frank
Though published in 1545, the illustrations in Estienne’s work were actually executed in the 1530-40s, but
due to a legal battle between Estienne and his collaborator over authorship credit, the publication of the
work was delayed. If not for this delay, it has been speculated that Estienne’s work would be have been
more renowned as the first lavishly illustrated anatomy text had it preceded Vesalius’s Fabrica.

f QM21.P63 1741, plate V, facing p. 10

Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669)
Tabulae anatomicae a celeberrimo pictore…
Rome: Ex typographia Antonii de Rubeis, 1741
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Bartolommeao Eustachi was a Galenist and condemned Vesalius’s anatomical deviations from the
teachings of Galen. His works, the first anatomical illustrations printed from engraved copper plates,
consisted of simple figures, removed from the pageantry and landscaped backdrops of Vesalius’s work.

ff QM151.A535 1754, TAB IV (rhino)

Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697-1770)

The Explanation of Albinus’s Anatomical Figures of the Human Skeleton and Muscles
London: John and Paul Knapton, 1754
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Albinus employed a technical strategy of using multiple cadavers and series of grids to ensure proper
proportion as drawn from life. Contrasting in-focus figures of dark-tonality against slightly out-of-focus
backgrounds of middle-gray tonality allowed the figures to project forward. In this image, Albinus, in
keeping with narrative tradition, presents Clara, a renowned Rhinoceros at the time, as an additional
romantic appeal to the wonders of nature.

Realism
Anatomy as a discipline had an important role in early discourse about the practice of medicine in society.
Between 1680 and 1800, the conventions of and expectations for anatomical representation shifted as the
scientific community increased its focus on careful observation and systematic discovery. Science
demanded dispassionate neutrality, and anatomists, in turn, developed new criteria for anatomical
illustration that stripped away the artistic flourishes that characterized earlier illustration.

Anatomical representation under this new paradigm became scientific illustration, created by and for
scientists. The focus shifted to the realistic depiction of the material before the anatomist’s scientific gaze:
the dissected body, imperfect and often inglorious. These depictions of the body challenged the cultural and
artistic conventions of anatomical representation that preceded them. The details of the bodies are harsh
and realistic, at times obscuring medical knowledge, and free of intentional moral or symbolic gestures.

These bodies are not meant to tell stories; they are instead intended to convey the dissected corpse as it lies
before the anatomist. The realistic depiction conferred confidence that what was being viewed was true
anatomy. Yet, despite the anatomist’s intention, response to these images is not merely scientific. Viewed
within the context of history and compared with modern anatomical representation, it is impossible to view
these images without feeling more than the anatomist intended.

ff QM21.B6, plate 30
Govard Bidloo (1649-1713)
Anatomia humani corporis…
Amsterdam: sumptibus viduae Joannis à Someren, 1685
Rare Book Collection, From the Collection of Mortimer Frank

Bidloo’s Anatomia humani corporis, published in 1685, was an exemplary work of realism. Compared with
Gautier’s “flayed angel,” this image typifies the harsh reality of the dissection, expunged of artistic
flourishes. The plates were drawn by Gérard de Lairesse and engraved by Abraham Blooteling.

f QM34.B33, facing p. 7
Charles Bell (1774-1842)
A System of Dissections, Explaining the Anatomy of the Human Body… 2nd ed.
Edinburgh: Printed for Mundell and Son ; London: J. Johnson and Longman and Rees, 1799-1803
Rare Book Collection

Bell studied art as a child and later anatomy under the direction of his brother, anatomist John Bell. He
contributed text and drawings to John’s The Anatomy of the Human Body. He published this work in 1798
while still a student in medical school.

f R114.S29 1836 atlas, plate 18

Antonio Scarpa (1752-1832)
Atlante delle opere complete
Florence: V. Batelli, 1839
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Scarpa was credited by many as the co-founder of anatomical pathology along with his medical school
instructor, Giovanni Battista Morgagni. Scarpa authored many works on anatomy, in particular
ophthalmology. This compilation of his works was published several years after his death.

Universalism
Toward the end of the 18th century, realism evolved into a new anatomical style. Universalism narrowed
the anatomical gaze still further. By removing distracting elements of realism, such as props of the
dissection and extraneous detail, it focused solely on the body or specific body parts and featured idealized
anatomical composites. Additionally, by breaking down the body into scientifically abstracted parts, the
body was further removed from the process of dissection and the intimations of death. The loss of the
figure as a whole meant a loss of the humanizing aspects of anatomy and of the dialogue between the
physical and symbolic meanings of the body.

These anatomically precise illustrations have clear and objective medical intent, often featuring rich
textures and vivid colors that belie aesthetic qualities. Whereas realism revealed what was directly before
the anatomist’s gaze, universalism allowed for a composite representation of an idealized form. With the
rise of modern medicine, anatomical representation demanded scientific accuracy that could serve clinical
needs of diagnosis and surgery. To meet the needs of the medical education establishment, anatomical
representation also had to fulfill didactic purposes of an increasingly detailed degree.

These pressures demanded that anatomical illustrations be scientifically accurate, thus valuing precision
over composition and clarity over expressiveness. By the 1830’s, anatomical universalism was the
predominant style of anatomical representation, exemplified by Gray’s Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical.

QM23.G771 1858, Hand

Henry Gray (1825-1861)
Anatomy, Descriptive and Surgical
London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858
Rare Book Collection

First published in 1858, Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical, which was later known as Gray’s Anatomy,
has since become synonymous with the discipline of anatomy. Gray’s goal was simple: to create an
anatomy text that was didactic, affordable, accurate and accessible to anatomy students in order to assist
with their training and practice. With the black and white woodcuts by illustrator H.V. Carte, Gray
removed the artistic flourishes and developed a style of scientific neutrality. Now in its 40th edition, Gray’s
Anatomy achieved its goal, as the work influenced the study of anatomy for generations following its
publication.

ff QM25.B760 v.2, plate 84

Jean Marc Bourgery (1797-1849)
Traité complet de l’anatomie de l’homme, comprenant la médecine opératoire
Paris: C.-A. Delaunay, 1831-1854
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science
and Medicine

Bourgery’s work includes over 700 hand-colored illustrations in eight volumes published over the course of
23 years. He worked with the artist Nicolas-Henri Jacob, who was a pupil of the French painter Jacques-
Louis David. The influence of David’s neo-classicism can be seen in the style of the images.
ff RG520.B82 plates c.3, Tab Ia and II
Wilhelm Braune, Wilhelm (1831-1892)
Die Lage des Uterus und Foetus am Ende der Schwangerschaft
Leipzig: Verlag von Veit & Comp., 1872
Rare Book Collection

Christian Wilhelm Braune developed a technique for reproducing cross-sectional anatomy. Braune froze
the body of a young healthy man who committed suicide, sectioned the body and then made tracings of the
sections on thin paper. The images produced by Braune were of questionable clinical value at the time,
given that practitioners did not view anatomy from that perspective. Nonetheless, the anatomical views
produced by Braune are now commonly employed using modern medical imaging, including the CT scan
and MRI.

ff QM25.C60 v.2, plate 59

Jules Cloquet (1790-1883)
Anatomie de l’homme, ou Description et figures…
Paris: Imprimerie Lithographique de C. de Lasteyrie, 1821-31. Vol. 2.
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Over the course of ten years, Jules Cloquet produced this massive five-volume work containing over 3000
figures. A mixture of copied plates and original illustrations, many of the images represent universalism,
consisting of highly detailed composite anatomical entities, abstracted from their bodily context.

ff QM25.G397, head and angel

Gautier Dagoty (1717-1785)
Anatomical Engravings
[N.p.: n.p., ca. 1750?]
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Jacques Fabien Gautier d’Agoty trained as an artist and used a novel four-color technique of mezzotint to
produce images that are more art than science. While the anatomic detail is less detailed, the aesthetic
qualities of the images are striking. Gautier’s “flayed angel” is often critiqued as being a form of
voyeurism, with the female figure coyly revealing herself.

The X-ray: A New Kind of Light

In 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen discovered the X-ray and forever changed the way that humans viewed
themselves. Prior to the X-ray, the only way to see into ourselves required opening the flesh veil to reveal
what exists beneath either through dissection or surgery. With the discovery of the X-ray, images of true
living anatomy were possible and the human body became transparent.

The X-ray, as both a diagnostic and therapeutic technology, significantly advanced the practice of medicine
and heralded the medical imaging revolution. The now common medical imaging modalities of the
ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI that followed the X-ray further refined and redefined how the human body is
viewed. While the medical implications of the X-ray were immediately obvious, this technology and the
images it produced had a profound impact on culture and society, affecting the popular imagination,
redefining self-perception, and blurring the boundaries between the public and private.

The mass appeal of the X-ray resulted in the ubiquitous social adoption of the X-ray image as a black and
white snapshot of the transparent self. The technology of the X-ray and subsequent modalities of medical
imaging replaced the subjective gaze and interpretation of artists, and even the anatomist, with an objective,
yet abstracting technical gaze.

RC78.W72 1901, p. 95
Francis H. Williams (1852-1936)
The Roentgen Rays in Medicine and Surgery as an Aid in Diagnosis… New York: Macmillan Company,
1901.
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

QC481.R705, v.1-2, covers

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923)
Eine neue Art von Strahlen. Würzburg: Verlag und Druck der Stahel’schen, 1895-1896.
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

f TR750.K66 1896, hand w/ feather duster

Walter König
14 Photographien mit Röntgen-Strahlen. Leipzig: Verlag von Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1896.
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine
FLOOR CASES

Golden Era

f QM101.C53, plate XXXVI

William Cheselden (1688-1752)
Osteographia, or, the Anatomy of the Bones
London: [W. Bowyer for the author, 1733]
Rare Book Collection, Collection of Mortimer Frank

The publication of this volume was delayed when Cheselden abandoned the first draft of plates because he
thought they were not completely accurate. He then had his artists, Gerard Vandergucht and Jacob
Schijnvoet, use a camera obscura. Cheselden chose the poses for the skeletons and oversaw each stage of
the production.

QM21.V22, p. 64
Juan Valverde de Amusco (ca. 1525-ca. 1588)
Anatomia del corpo humano
Rome: Ant. Salamanca, et Antonio Lafreri, 1558
Rare Book Collection

While most of the images in Valverde’s works were copies from Vesalius, the most striking image, that of
a man with knife in handholding his flayed skin, alludes to the martyred Saint Bartholomew and
Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement. Alternatively, the image represented man taking part in his own
dissection, symbolic of the act from which anatomical knowledge is obtained.

f QM21.P48 1740, plate 25

Gaetano Petrioli
Riflessioni anatomiche sulle note di Monsignor Gio: Maria Lancisi fatte sopra le tavole del celebre
Bartolomeo Eustachio…
Rome: Nella stamperia di Giovanni Zempel, 1740
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science
and Medicine

Petrioli was famous for reproducing the anatomical plates of Bartolomeo Eustachi, who had completed his
drawings in 1552. Petrioli obtained the original plates from a cardinal in the Vatican and claimed that he
was commissioned to produce an improved edition. There are forty-seven Eustachi plates in this volume.

alc f QM21.S672 1627, Plate 15, 4, p.27

Giulio Cesare Casseri (ca. 1552-1616)
Tabulae anatomicae
Venice: E. Deuchinum, 1627
Rare Book Collection

The drawings of Giulio Casseri, who died while preparing this work, was paired with the text of Adriaan
van den Speighel. The images by Casseri follow the convention of narrative illustration and often conveyed
social commentary. The figure presented here, with its bent knee, use of a peg cane and wearing a soft
helmet with ear flaps, is symbolic for that time of a beggar or professional “cripple” often associated with
criminal activity.

ANATOMICAL FLAP BOOKS

Anatomical flap books are an interesting and engaging genre of anatomical texts that invite viewer
participation in the exploration of the human body. While anatomy and anatomical representation became a
scientific discipline, images of the anatomical body found new audiences through popular movements and
mass media. In part due to improved print technologies, creative and interactive images of the human body
proliferated to engage the public, including anatomy flap books and manikins.

Anatomical flap books, through a series of layered, moveable flaps, allow the viewer to participate in a
textual, multi-dimensional dissection. Sections can be opened to reveal the body parts beneath, allowing the
dissection to unfold in time as the viewer “reads” through layer to layer. With their vivid colors and
graphic quality, anatomical flap books of the 19th and early 20th century appealed to a general audience as
part of the popular health movement. While their use for medical purposes was limited, anatomical flap
books often served as didactic tools for practitioners to educate their patients.

The materials in this case represent a spectrum of anatomical flap books, from an early version where the
anatomy is primitive yet the images have artistic flourish, to a colorful full figure manikin typical of
popular models of the era, to a more graphic representation of the human head with diagrammatic
abstractions to explain complex anatomical and physiological concepts.

f QM21.R4513, plate of man

Johann Remmelin (1583-1632)
A Survey of the Microcosme, or, the Anatomy of the Bodies of Man and Woman. 2nd ed. London: Dan.
Midwinter and Tho. Leigh, 1702.
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

f QM25.F86 1902, 3 part fold out

William S. Furneaux.
Dr. Minder's Anatomical Manikin of the Human Body. Students ed. rev. by Ethel Mayer. New York:
American Thermo-Ware Co., [1902]
Rare Book Collection

f QM25.A53 1900z, head

Anatomical Manikin. Chicago: Denoyer-Geppert Co., [19--?]
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

THE HAND
The hand is both tool and metaphor. No other part of the body can be substituted for the whole like the
human hand. Man’s prehensile thumbs, his precise grip and sensitive touch are the source of man’s agency.
More than any other part of the body, hand also embodies the dualities of art and medicine.

The hand is the instrument of the artist, and the ability of the artist to represent the human hand conveys
one’s mastery. Images focusing on the hand abound, as exemplified by Michelangelo’s outstretched hands
of Adam and God in the Sistine Chapel or Rembrandt’s famous Anatomy Lesson of Nicolaes Tulp.
Vesalius, in the only known representation of him, is portrayed dissecting the arm of a cadaver.

In drawing and sculpture, the hands depicted here convey emotion, power, and meaning. The position of
the hands and gestures of the hands are able to communicate beyond spoken language. The simple act of
pointing implies a shared understanding. The enduring role that the hand plays in medicine lies buried in
the origin of the word—chirurgery—that part of medical science and art which is concerned with the cure
of diseases or bodily injuries by manual operation. The hand is an essential part of what makes the
surgeon.

As in art, much medical iconography relates to the hand. Röntgen’s original and most well-known X-ray
was that of his wife’s hand. The widely reproduced image exposes the bones and captures her now famous
ring. When first introduced, these images were both titillating and terrifying. The power of X-rays and
medical imaging is that they allow us to see beyond the surface. Today they are part of the expanded
vocabulary about how we see the human body and understand what makes us human.

ff QM21.C84, plate 71 (reproduction)

William Cowper (1666-1709)
The Anatomy of Humane Bodies…
Leiden: Printed for Joh. Arn. Langerak, 1737
Rare Book Collection, Collection of Mortimer Frank

Cowper’s volume was one of the more controversial medical works published in the 18th century. The
majority of the plates were taken from Bidloo’s Anatomia Humani Corporis (also shown in this exhibit),
but Cowper did not acknowledge either Bidloo or Lairesse, the engraver of the original plates. Cowper did
contribute new text to accompany the plates. The ensuing debate between him and Bidloo via letters and
pamphlets was quite acrimonious and Cowper never did provide substantial proof that the plates were his.

QM24.M381 1821 v.1, plate 1

Paolo Mascagni (1755-1815)
Descrizione della tavole citate nel Prodomo della grande anatomia
Milan: Presso Batelli e Fanfani, 1821
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Best known for his study and publications on the lymphatic system, Mascagni also wrote a number of
comprehensive works on anatomy. Most of his works were published by family members after Mascagni’s
death, including this title.

ff NC760.S18 1812, plate 3 hand (reproduction)

Jean Galbert Salvage
Anatomie du gladiateur combattant, applicable aux beaux arts
Paris: Chez l’auteur. De l’imprimerie de Mame, 1812
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science
and Medicine

Tarkan Paphiti wrote, “A military doctor of the Napoleonic era, Jean-Galbert based his drawings on
dissections of killed soldiers. However there was some method to his madness. For this study of the
‘Borghese Gladiator’ an ancient Greek statue, he arranged his cadavers in the same pose as the sculpture
and meticulously worked out the skeletal and muscular anatomy. Working this way gave him the ability to
create very accurate anatomical studies and yet his work would still be regarded as fine art.”
Sir Francis Seymour Haden
British (English), 1818–1910
Hands Etching—O Laborum, 1865
Etching and drypoint on laid paper
5 ½ x 8 3/8 in. (14 x 21.3 cm), plate; 7 ½ x 10 ¼ in. (19.1 x 26 cm), sheet
University Transfer from Max Epstein Archive, Carrie B. Neely Bequest, 1940
1967.116.16
Lent by the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago

Walker Evans
American, 1903–1975
Untitled (Two hands), n.d., printed by the Chicago Albumen Works in 1980
Gelatin silver print
5 ¼ x 4 ¼ in. (13.3 x 10.8 cm), image; 5 5/8 x 4 9/16 in. (14.3 x 11.6 cm), sheet
Gift of Arnold H. Crane
1980.107
Lent by the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago

Auguste Rodin
French, 1840–1917
The Cathedral, 1908 (model)
Cast bronze
Height: 25 in. (63.5 cm)
The Joel Starrels, Jr. Memorial Collection
1974.165
Lent by the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago

Auguste Rodin
French, 1840–1917
Clenched Hand (Study for The Mighty Hand?), c. 1884–85 (model, Musée cast Rodin 1959)
Cast bronze
Height: 5 3/8 in. (13.7 cm)
The Joel Starrels, Jr. Memorial Collection
1974.218
Lent by the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago

ACADEMIC ART ANATOMY

With the rise of formal art academies in the 17th and 18th centuries, anatomy held a prominent place in an
artist’s training. Using cadavers and skeletons, artistic study of anatomy focused on superficial anatomy
and the structural components that affect bodily form, movement, and expression.

Early anatomy texts were the product of a close collaboration between artist and anatomist that drew upon
artistic and scientific conventions to produce works that combined classic aesthetics with anatomical
realism. Professors of anatomy were often appointed to teach in art academies. However, as science
became more focused on the anatomical truth of the human body, the collaborative conventions of
anatomical representation diverged. While medical anatomy became more clinical, art still operated in
service of the humanizing aspects of the human body, including those of moral, theological, aesthetic, and
cultural importance. As anatomical representation became more technically focused, artists abandoned the
acquisition of anatomical knowledge in search of naturalism and explored increasingly abstract concepts of
the body in search of deeper meaning and symbolism.

The images depicted here examine the artist’s imagining of the human body to represent the human
condition and force us to contemplate and understand ourselves.

f NC760.G4 1691, plate 22, p. 38

Bernardino Genga (1620-1690)
Anatomia per uso et intelligenza del disegno
Rome: de Rossi, 1691
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

A noted scholar of ancient medical texts, Genga edited the works of Hippocrates. He had a strong interest
in classical anatomy found in Greek and Roman sculpture. These two interests combined in Genga
teaching anatomy for artists at the French Academy in Rome.

f NC765.S320 1841, plate 12

Giambattista Sabattini
Tavole anatomiche per i pittori, scultori, ed altri. 2nd ed. per cura di Giovanni Zecchi
Bologna: G. Zecchi, 1841
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine
Sabattini was both a physician and an artist. He taught anatomy for artists at the Accademia di Belle Arti di
Bologna. An accompanying treatise on bones and muscles was never published.

NC760.P58 1783, plate 19

Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (1726-1798)
Aanleiding tot de kennis der anatomie
Amsterdam: J. Yntema, 1783
Rare Book Collection

In addition to being an artist, Ploos was also a noted art collector. His print collection numbered over 7,000
items at his death. He was a member of the Stadstekenacademie in Amsterdam, where he taught drawing,
and wrote a number of instructional texts.

f NC760.S652 1827, plate 1

John Rubens Smith
A Compendium of Picturesque Anatomy…
Boston: Published by the Author, 1827
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Smith was an accomplished painted and printmaker. English by birth and training, he taught art in the
United states and wrote drawing manuals.

f NC760.D87 1613
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
Les quatre liures d’Albert Durer, peinctre & geometrien tres excellent, De la proportion des parties &
pourtraicts des corps humains
Arnhem: Chez Iean Ieansz, 1613
John Crerar Collection of Rare Books in the History of Science and Medicine

Both artist and anatomist were concerned with bodily proportion. Artists, such as Albrecht Durer, published
treatises on proportion that broke down the body in components, often based on the relative unit of the head
or height. These works were usually preoccupied with defining the ideal body in terms of classic aesthetics
and beauty.
Lovis Corinth
German, 1858–1925
Academic Study: Male Nude, 1886
Pencil on wove paper
20 ½ x 13 ½ in. (52.1 x 34.3 cm), sheet
Gift of Richard Gray
1997. 39
Lent by the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago

Attributed to Louis Boullogne the Younger

French, 1654–1733
Reclining Male Nude, c. 1700–10
Blue chalk heightened with white chalk on blue wove paper
17 ¼ x 16 1/8 in. (43.8 x 41 cm), sheet
Purchase, Gift of the Friends of the Smart Gallery, 1988 and Mrs. George B. Young
1988.69
Lent by the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago