Anatomy Presentation
revisions in progress
Embedded Files
PARÉ, Ambroise The Workes of that famous chirurgion Ambrose Parey
published 1634
Today we'll look at the foundations of European medicine and the role of artists in advancing the study of human anatomy. We'll also examine the evolution of representing the human form in prints and the mutual influence of science and art during the Renaissance.
European medicine through the 16th century was informed by three main resources; the ancient Greek writings attributed to Hippocrates (circa 460-370 BCE); the work of the Roman physician, Claudius Galen (b. 129- d.200 CE); and the ancient texts, called "herbals," or materia medica, that compiled knowledge of plant and animal based medicine
pages from a 15th century English illuminated manuscript
"Psuedo-Galen," Anatomia, ms 290
Claudius Galen (129-200 CE)
Claudius Galen (129-200 CE)
Galen was a Greek philosopher, surgeon, and personal physician to several Emperors. He studied the work of Hippocrates and then conducted his own research by dissecting animals, as human dissection was forbidden.
He applied his animal-based knowledge of anatomy and the circulatory system to his writings on the human body. Despite the multiple important differences between animal and human anatomy, his work formed the basis of European medical study through the 16th century.
He expanded on the humoral theory, which was systematized by the ancient Greeks but was thought to have come from ancient Egypt. Medical practice in Europe relied upon this theory until the 19th century, when it was replaced by germ theory.
According to the humoral system, health and disease are influenced by the balance of the "four humors," which include blood, phlegm, and black and yellow bile. It is similar to the Ayurvedic medicine practiced in India.
The
"Quinta Essentia," woodcut, Leonhard Thurneysser, 1574
“Zodiac Man” Detail from Es spricht der Meÿster Almanasor, 1483, Augsburg. Origins unknown
Individuals were believed to have a unique balance of humors, depending upon their geographic location, local climate, age, sex, occupation, diet, and planetary alignment. This balance determined one's temperament-categorized as melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic, or choleric. Internal or external changes of any kind could cause an imbalance of the humors and lead to disease.
Each humor corresponded to one of the seasons and to one of the elements- earth, air, fire, and water- of which all matter was composed, according to the ancient Greeks (as written by Empedocles). The humors were characterized as hot, cold, wet, or dry.
Galen suggested they were connected to seasons, periods of life, geographic locations, occupations, and temperaments. He believed in a three-part soul, as described by Plato, which included thumos (courage or passion), epithumos (desire), and sophia (wisdom), and connected each of humors to a major organ.
In summary, the humors are associated with the following:
Yellow bile: choleric, gall bladder, summer, childhood, like fire- hot and dry
Black bile: melancholic, the spleen, winter, old age, like earth-cold and dry
Blood: sanguine, the heart, spring, adolescence, like air- hot and moist
Phlegm: phlegmatic (unemotional), brain, autumn, old age, like water- cold and moist.
Balance was thought to be significantly impacted by astrological forces, and treatments were planned according to planetary movement.
Treatments included purges like blood-lettings, enemas, induced vomiting, urination, and more. Because balances were specific to an individual, treatments had to vary from one person to the next.
Galen added herbal medicines to these treatment options.
Melothesia' (zodiac man) from the 'Très Riches Heures 1413-1416, commissioned by the Duc de Berry
The Zodiac Man first appeared in the 11th century and was found in multiple folding almanacs and medical manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries. It indicates the organs governed by each celestial event and was used in combination with planetary timing tables to determine the best time for treatment (usually blood-letting).
Medieval physicians had observed the effect of the moon on the tides, and theorized that it would similarly impact blood-letting. Therefore, if the moon were to appear in the sign governing the organ, the treatment would have to be postponed.
Humoral theory, or humorism, dominated European medical favor until the 17th century. Advances in chemistry and cellular pathology contributed to its decline and it was replaced by germ theory in the mid 1800s.
for a chart of the astrological signs and the organs they govern,
Diagram showing the correspondence between human body, medicinal plants with signatures, and constellations. Athanasius Kircher, Ars Magna Lucis Et Umbrae (Amsterdam, 1671)
The physicians who made the most significant contributions to the ancient Greek medical texts by adding their own observations and discoveries to the translations that influenced Europeans include Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi, Avicenna, and Ibn Butlan.
Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi (809–873)
Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi (809–873)
Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Abadi (808-873 AD) was an influential Arab translator, physician, and scholar and a founder of Islamic medicine. He mastered the four major languages of the period (Greek, Arabic, Syriac, and Persian) and is famous for translating Greek writings on philosophy and medicine into Arabic and Syriac. He translated over 100 works, including the Old Testament, and produced 36 books of his own, including 21 on medicine.
The city of Baghdad was founded in the 8th century, under the rule of the Abassid Caliphate. It was the center of science, culture, philosophy, and invention in what is now considered the Golden Age of Islam and was the major hub of the translation movement.
He moved to Baghdad and worked with a handful of other scholars to translate Greek books into Arabic and Syriac- including books on philosophy, natural science, mathematics, medicine, and religion, as well as books on magic and oneiromancy- the divination of dreams.
He was influenced by Galen but relied on his own first-hand observations and wrote the first known book on ophthalmology, “Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye,” which detailed their anatomy, symptoms, diseases, and treatments.
Albucasis was a physician, chemist, and considered one of the most important surgeons of the Middle Ages. He wrote a 30 volume book on medical practices (including dentistry) with descriptions of tools and procedures that would become the standard textbook across Europe for five centuries. Many of his discoveries, surgical instruments, and practices are still in use. He pioneered the use of catgut for internal stitches, discovered the root cause of paralysis, develeoped tools for C-section deliveries, and more.
medical tools from 10th century Illum. manuscript of Albucasis
for pleasure reading
for pleasure reading
Albucasis (936-1013)
Albucasis (936-1013)
Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi
Abu-Ali Al-Husain Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina
Abu-Ali Al-Husain Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina
called Avicenna in the West (b.980- d.1037)
called Avicenna in the West (b.980- d.1037)
The Persian polymath, Avicenna, is considered one of the most important philosophers of the Islamic Golden Age. He wrote around 450 works on a variety of topics, including alchemy, astronomy, and medicine, and was the first to discover that some diseases are communicable. Only half of his writings have survived. The most influential are two books on medicine that were translated into Latin and Hebrew in the 12th century: The Book of Healing, which is a philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and The Canon of Medicine- a medical encyclopedia that compiled centuries of Greek and Arabic medicine. It was used as a university textbook throughout the Islamic world and Europe until 1650 or so.
left:
Panel illustrations of a doctor performing a wrist or pulse test; giving a urine test; curing mental illness with herbs. Illustrations are believed to be by Leonardo da Besozzo and Cristoforo Cortese, about whom little is known.
Ibn Butlan , (date unknown-1066)
Abū 'l-Ḥasan al-Muḫtār Yuwānnīs ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbdūn ibn Saʿdūn ibn Buṭlān
Ibn Butlan of Baghdad was a physician and Christian theologian who wrote about diet and hygiene. His treatise on health, called aqwīm aṣ Ṣiḥḥa , (or Tacuinum Sanitatis, in Latin, or Maintenance of Health) was written for a lay audience.
His medical practice was informed by Galen's description of the six areas of life which we can control, including light and air, food and drink, movement and rest, sleeping and waking, and excretions and emotions (not sure how those two are related).
He arranged the information on maladies and their cures in the form of tables, as had only been used in books on astronomy or the law before.
The image below belongs to a section on acorns, said to solve motility issues but hinder menstruation.
bonus reading here
According to this ancient Greek theory, plants, minerals, and animals resemble the parts of the human body that they could be used to treat. The 16th century physician, Paracelcus, further developed this concept and revived European interest in the possibilities. He suggested (or stated) that some plants resemble organs and could be used to treat the ailments of those organs; those that resembled the symptom of an ailment or disease could be used to treat the disease, and so forth.
Any feature of a plant (color, shape, smell, texture, flavor) could be seen to correlate with a human body part and used to treat it. The distinctive feature of a plant was called its "signature." Paracelcus explained that God communicated the hidden uses of plants through these traits.
The doctrine of signatures accorded with the belief in the reflection of the macrocosm (universe) in the microcosm (world, or man).
Illustrations by Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (1460-1530) for Mondino De'Luzzi's Commentaria super anatomia Mundini of 1522
Illustrations by Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (1460-1530) for Mondino De'Luzzi's Commentaria super anatomia Mundini of 1522
Mondino De’ Luzzi, aka Mundinus or Mondino, (1270-1326)
Mundinus, aka Mondino, is credited with reintroducing human dissections to the classroom for medical students. He studied medicine at the University of Bologna, taught medicine and anatomy there after completing his studies, and maintained a surgical practice. His book, Anathomia Mundini, written in 1316 and printed in 1478, was the first book devoted to anatomy in over 1,000 years and unique in serving as a dissection manual. Doctors and students relied on his text for 200 years.
Dissections were part of medical training in ancient Alexandria but were banned around 200 AD and not permitted again in Europe until the 12th century, though they had been used continuously in the Middle East for medical research.
After trade was established between Constantinople and Salerno, in southern Italy, ideas flowed from the Middle East to Europe again, and interest in medical research was renewed. A large medical school, called The Civitas Hippocratica, was established in Salerno and animal dissection became an important part of the curriculum.
Until this time, the understanding and treatment of illnesses relied on the Doctrine of the Four Juices, or the humors, which were dependent upon astrology and the seasons. Bloodletting was one of the few treatments available.
In the 13th century, Mundinus incorporated human dissections into his teachings at the University of Bologna. Up to this point, medicine was based on the writings of Galen and Avicenna and relied on drawings and animal dissections, neither of which were completely reliable.
Mundinus' book combined his own observations of human anatomy with the animal-based theories of Galen, and so contained many inaccuracies.
He separated the parts of the human body into groups. There were
“generative members,” or reproductive organs;
“natural members,” including the liver, spleen, and other organs of the abdominal cavity;
“spiritual members,” that included everything from the thoracic cavity to the mouth, like the heart, lungs, trachea, and esophagus;
“animal members,” of the skull, eyes, ears, and brain,
and “peripheral” parts that included the spine and bones of the limbs.
WOODCUTS
Jacopo Berengario da Carpi used Mundinus' book as the basis for his own. Using first hand experience performing surguries and dissections, he commented on Mundinus' findings and added his own observations. His illustrated manual, called Commentaria super anatomia Mundini, was published in 1522.
Berengario was both author and illustrator of the book. He collected art and the poses and compositions of his images were influenced by the figures of contemporary Renaissance paintings. He often developed studies by sketching from antique sculptures or the work of other Italian Renaissance artists, including da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
Despite the stylized settings, the illustrations aimed to be accurate. It is believed than an artist used da Carpi's anatomical studies to develop the settings for the final woodcuts, creating images that could be appreciated for their artistic merits as well as their scientific ones.
Johannes de Ketham, (c1415-1470)
Johannes de Ketham, (c1415-1470)
The woodcut (left) is the frontispiece for a book published by the Gregoriis brothers of Venice, based on the writings of Johannes de Ketham, (c1415-1470) called “Fasciculus Medicinae” which translates to “bundle of medicine.” It depicts the famous early lesson involving the dissection of a human body, which was done around 1315, under Mundinus. The woodblock print documents the traditional classroom practice: the professor sits above the table to narrate and describe the particulars of anatomy while a surgeon performs the dissection. There was often a third person, called an ostensor, who pointed out the specific parts of the body being discussed. The term “Chairman of the Department” is thought to have originated from this practice.
De Kethem’s book is a collection of essays by various physicians on late medieval medicine that covers all available information on anatomy; gynecology; treatments of wounds and diseases, including the plague; and bloodletting in accordance with astrological rules.
The book was valued more for it's illustrations than for the sometimes inaccurate information that it contained. Images were developed by manuscript illuminators who guided woodcut specialists through developing a consistent style. The delicate outlines, shallow space, and simple drapery were typical of the Venetian illustrations of this era.
Despite the inaccuracies of the text, the book was enormously popular and was printed in multiple versions over the next decade.
Woodcuts such as this female (above, left) were used in the Middle Ages to accompany written descriptions and intended to serve as a mnemonic device - a visual aid to help students memorize basic concepts. The image of this female was created for an updated version of the “Fasciculus Medicinae.” Little was known about the female body as this knowledge was taboo.
The "Wound Man" originally appeared in an early 15th century illuminated manuscript on surgery. It appeared in print for the first time in de Ketham's Fasciculus Medicinae and was copied and reprinted in multiple translations of the book. (including German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch)
It is a surgical diagram indicating accidental and human inflicted injuries, animal bites, signs of various diseases, and their cures. It appears in the table of contents of de Kethem's books and was imitated by multiple illustrators and publishers into the seventeenth century.
Johannes de Ketham. Fasiculo de medicina. (Veinice, 1495)
Wound Man from Hans von Gersdorff's
Feldtbuch der Wundartzney (Strasburg, 1519)
A Wound Man from a late 15th-century manuscript, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Pollaiulo’s "Battle of the Nude Men", c. 1470-90, etching
Antonio Pollaiulo
(c. 1429-1498)
Pollaiulo’s work marks the beginning of the era in which artists studied anatomy and attended or even participated in dissections in order to understand the human form.
Pollaiulo demonstrated everything he knew about human anatomy in this engraving. He studied ancient sculptures and live models in addition to watching dissections in order to understand the bones and muscles beneath the skin in order to imitate nature more accurately.
pen and ink
Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452- 1519)
Before achieving acclaim as an artist, Da Vinci was known as an architect, engineer, and inventor.
He was interested in multiple fields of science, including astronomy, geology, mechanical engineering, and anatomy. He was especially interested in muscle movement, fetal development, and comparative anatomy. He knew better than to publish theories that conflicted with the church, as Gilileo Galilei had (and was tortured and jailed for his theories), so his conclusions remain unknown. He was forced to leave the Vatican or face prosecution for dissecting bodies.
He produced his anatomical studies initially for the use of other artists, though became increasingly interested in the science of anatomy and made some important discoveries, including the frontal sinuses of the cranium and the 4 cavities of the heart and its reliance upon the surrounding muscles for its function.
He conducted over thirty dissections, which revealed to him the inaccuracies of Galen’s work. His drawings combine natural and abstract representation by illustrating the layers of muscles as semi-transparent, with dotted lines indicating the hidden parts. He also drew the organs in cross sections, in perspective. His drawings provide the foundation of modern scientific illustration.
DaVinci also studied the skeleton and muscles with research on physiology, examining the role of each muscle in mechanical activity.
While he made some important discoveries through study of anatomy, he was distracted from pure science by his interest in physiognomy- the attribution of personality traits based on physical appearance. This psuedo-science would be used to excuse slavery and colonial expansion.
Albrecht Durer
Albrecht Durer
(1471-1528)
(1471-1528)
Durer was among the first of the Renaissance artists to study anatomy. Inspired by da Vinci, he published his theories on beauty and four books on human proportions. He included figures of all sizes and shapes, which were very different from the ideal proportions established by the Roman architect Vetruvius in the 1st century BCE and accepted as the standard for centuries.
Dürer wrote that there were “many forms of relative beauty…conditioned by the diversity of breeding, vocation and natural disposition.” He believed a great variety of body types was needed in order to produce the “widest limits of human nature and…all possible kinds of figures: figures noble or rustic, canine or fox-like, timid or cheerful.
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Clerical leaders loosened prohibitions on dissections, partly because the same artists who painted and sculpted the clergy were interested in anatomy. One of the first permits to dissect was granted to Michelangelo, though he is known to have gained illegal access to corpses before receiving permission .
Once dissections were permitted, bodies became an important resource for the evolution of medicine. However, it was the poor or marginalized, executed criminals, and the unclaimed dead in public hospitals, jails, or workhouses, whose bodies were claimed in the name of science, and so depersonalization and exploitation provided the basis for study.
Dissections were often held as well-publicized events that could even involve banquets or theatrical performances. Italy was the epicenter of this type of scientific inquiry. These dissections were performed only on executed criminals, who did not receive the same respect or protections as everyone else.
Science relied upon detailed descriptions of form. Scientists could learn to draw or hire an artist to record their findings. With heightened interest in the human form during the Renaissance, artists were eager to develop a deeper understanding of musculature, anatomy, and movement. By the late Renaissance, the study of anatomy was so important to an artist's practice their figures were painted with muscles so exaggerated that they no longer looked natural or realistic.
Medical practice evolved radically as physicians developed an understanding of the functions of various organs and they no longer depended on the balancing of humors.
Hans von Gersdorff (1454-1529) illustrated by Johannes Wechtlin
Von Gersdorff was a surgeon who performed over 500 amputations and wrote a portable manual for military surgeons in 1517 on treating battle wounds, based on first-hand experience, called Feldtbuch der Wundartzney (Field-Book of the Wound Doctor). The book included instructions on bloodletting, extracting arrows and bullets, and performing operations. It also included images of the tools needed for each job, as well as formulas for medicines and anesthetics.a
Wound Man, woodcut
Johannes Wechtlin
Johannes Wechtlin
(1480 - 1585)
(1480 - 1585)
Illustrations by Wechtlin
for Feldtbuch der Wundartzney (1517, 1st edn.), Fieldbook for a Wound Doctor (aka military surgeon),
written by
Hans von Gersdorff
Bloodletting Man
The images are a cross between informational diagrams and works of art, illustrating the human as both specimen and individual. Wechtlin illustrated works of fiction, too, and brought creativity and elements of artistry to these medical illustrations.
Though the book claims that the drawing of Viscera Man was copied from a tomb relief, it was known to actually have been based on the dissection of a hanged criminal.
illustrations by Jan Stefan van Kalkar (c. 1499–1546) for Andreas Vesalius's (1514-1564) book, De humani corporis fabrica, pub. 1543
Vesalius (Flemish) was an exceptional medical student at the prestigious Univ. of Padua and was offered the position of chair of the anatomy and surgery department on graduation day. While in school, he was so interested in anatomy that he dissected animals and collected bones from cemeteries. Teachers and fellow students learned from his dissections.
He wrote multiple books on medicine between 1537 and 1564, including De humani corporis fabrica— considered to be one of the greatest books on the history of medicine and science.
engraving
He emphasized the importance of first-hand observation and empirical knowledge in study and questioned the reverence for relying on the printed word. He made the revolutionary change of performing dissections in the classroom while lecturing on anatomy. Previously, dissections were performed by a surgeon while the physician read from his notes. He developed rudimentary sketches while dissecting and had them improved upon and readied for print by van Kalkar. Van Kalkar had access to mounted skeletons, provided by Vesalius, which made the illustrations revolutionary in their accuracy. The relatively new press made it possible to share identical images and information that could be viewed around the continent, so the scientific impact was immense.
engraving
Van Kalkar was a pupil of the painter Titian. The figures in these illustrations strike poses of victims mourning their own death or that of others, sometimes posing with gravedigger's spades or leaning on gravestones. Van Kalkar often incorporated allegorical landscapes into the background. He developed anatomical studies into independent works of art.
Vesalius' observational sketches and collaboration with van Kalkar made the prints in the "atlas" vastly more impressive than any that preceded them.
His book was enormously popular among both physicians and artists and was copied and reprinted for decades. Each edition was illustrated by a different artist who tried to imitate the originals, but differences are seen in line quality and details.
In order to secure cadavers, Vesalius ingratiated himself with doctors and with local judges, and is said to have even robbed graves. Dissections were condemned by the church throughout most of Europe, but surprisingly, the local government protected Vesalius from punishment by the Pope.
Vesalius discovered over two hundred of Galen’s errors that had been accepted for centuries, destroying the foundation of the teaching of Galenism and infuriating many at the University. Some were so convinced of Galen’s authority that they believed that the human body must have changed since the time of his writing.
Van Kalkar's compositions were inspired by the illustrations of another book on dissection, which was not published until after Vesalius', but which had been written years earlier.
Jan Stefan van Kalkar's woodcut illustrations for Vesalius's De fabrica
Charles Estienne
Charles Estienne
(1504–1564)
De dissectione partium corporis humani, pub. in 1545
Estienne's book included some important medical discoveries, as well as influential elements of composition and illustration in its woodcuts. His family, who had published the works of Galen and Galen scholars, began to work on a text to replace Berengario di Carpi's.
from Charles Estienne's De dissectione partium corporis humani, written in the 1530s, published in 1545 (after Vesalius's book)
Estienne earned a medical degree but did not pursue medicine. Instead, he became involved with his family's printing atelier. He wrote several books, including a book on botany for children, a book on garden-planning, and an encyclopedia of classical literature.
He met Vesalius in Paris. They shared a passion for dissection and hands-on experience in a field that was still largely dominated by revering the work of the ancients. Estienne developed new techniques to mount and display skeletons and is believed to have been the one (of the pair) responsible for acquiring bodies.
His book was intended not just for students, but for the public, and explained that the images it contained were intended to reflect the beauty and order of divine creation.
Illustrations by Odoardo Fialetti (1573 – c.1638) For Giulio Cesare Casseri
As artists of the 16th and 17th gained access to attending dissections, they created work that was not always intended for physicians. They experimented with various ways of presenting the material. This period saw an increased interest in illustrated books, and a changing art market that moved from the domain of the church to the public, and a widespread interest in science.
These images were drawn by another of Titian’s students, Odoardo Fialetti, for anatomy teacher Giulio Cesare Casseri (1552-1616), for his book Tabulae anatomicae, which was never published due to a rival professor who blocked the publication.
Fialetti was a painter and printmaker who worked in Tintoretto’s atelier and used the poses of Baroque painters for his anatomical studies.
engraving
Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669)
Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669)
Cortona was an important painter and architect of the Italian Baroque period. Before achieving fame as an architect he drew these anatomical plates, but they were not printed until 150 years after his death. They are similar to the work of other anatomical drawings made in the Baroque period, but the most dramatic.
His anatomical drawings combine classical poses with presentation of the muscles. His drawings were not turned into prints until several decades after his death.
His anatomical studies may have been created for a particular Roman surgeon, but were not printed until 70 years after his death. They were included in a book compiled by a medical professor and probably included because he was a highly regarded Baroque painter and architect at the time of publication in the late 18th century.
left: Pietro di Cortona, Age of Iron, 1641
Anatomical Fugitive sheets were popular among laymen, as printers were able to break up the monopoly on knowledge held by the academics. They were published in the 16th century, first in Germany and then throughout Europe. They were widely available, very popular, and more affordable for the average citizen interested in the human body than a full volume of the work of Vesalius.
They were printed in woodcuts and provided the names of the organs in Latin and the local language and included a rudimentary description of the organs.
Female anatomical model, ivory
Probably Stephan Zick, late 17th century
Models like this were used for medical training, but also as prized possessions in a cabinet of curiosities.
Obstetrical training model, ascribed to Gottleib Salomon, c. 1800
This stuffed cloth model of the fetus inside the womb was used to train medical students at the Leiden Academic Hospital in the Netherlands. The fetus could be put in various positions so that they could practice forceps without harming the mother or child.
Aert Pieters, “Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Sebastiaen Egberts” 1603
It was common practice at this time to conduct public lectures on anatomy that included dissections. These events helped doctors establish professional legitimacy and were open to city officials, other surgeons, junior barber/surgeons, and midwives. A few seats were available to the general population.
Guilds in Northern Europe commonly commissioned group portraits. Early portraits of surgeon’s guilds typically had members facing the viewer and arranged in a manner that hid the body being dissected. Note that the flesh tones of the deceased were no different from the living.
Rembrandt made two significant changes in surgery paintings that influenced the painters that followed. He made the dissected body visible and arranged the surgeons around it so that their attention was on the demonstration, drawing the viewer in. Furthermore, he did not use the life-like fleshtones of his predecessors but instead made the body pale and lifeless.
Rembrandt van Rijn,
Rembrandt van Rijn,
Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632
By 1621, the flower was so popular that the successful physician from Amsterdam, Claes Pieterszoon, changed his name to Nicolaes Tulp. Ten years later, he was painted by Rembrandt in a public dissection of an executed criminal (a practice which we will discuss in anatomy section)- The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp.
Adriean Backer’s Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Frederik Ruysch of 1670 features Ruysch and 6 other surgeons who paid to be included in the painting. Three of their names are visible on the pilaster (column attached to wall). The sculptures in the background are Apollo and Asclepius- the ancient gods of medicine. Backer takes his cues from Rembrandt in his circular composition of surgeons, though the figure on the table appears to be at rest rather than dead.
Thomas Eakins,
The Agnew Clinic, 1889
The Agnew Clinic was a portrait commissioned by graduating classes for a retiring surgeon from the University of Pennsylvania, in imitation of the centuries old portrait tradition.
illustrations by Gerard de Lairesse
for Govert Bidloo's
Anatomia humani corporis, pub. 1685
Govert Bidloo was a Dutch anatomist and physician famous for observing the uniqueness of fingerprints. He studied under Frederick Ruysch and wrote the Anatomia humani corporis, which included over 100 engravings drawn by Gerard de Lairesse.
Lairesse was a highly regarded Dutch painter and theorist who wrote two books that would influence 18th century painting- one on drawing and geometry and the other on painting.
He rejected the realism and ordinary subject of contemporary paintings and wrote about the importance of painting biblical, mythological, and historical scenes. His baroque influences made him a popular painter among the wealthy merchant class of late 17th century Holland.
engraving
His approach to illustrating anatomy reflects his concern with elevating the subject matter. He favored aesthetics over accuracy and tried to make potentially gruesome subject matter beautiful and full of life.
In the words of Lairesse:
The artist, he said, must learn grace by mingling with the social and intellectual élite, must allow his subject matter to teach the highest moral principles, and must strive for ideal beauty. He must follow closely upon nature but overlook its imperfections
Allegory of the City of Amsterdam, by Gerard de Lairesse, 1668 (included here only to demonstrate his painting skills
The female figure on the pedestal is a personification of Anatomy in a classical setting. She holds a scalpel, which is parallel to the horn played by the figure behind her, who represents Fame. Beside her is a veiled putti, representing the ecorche model used by medical students. The putti in the foreground are occupied with a skull, a severed arm, and presumably an anatomical drawing.
Father Time pulls back the curtain. He holds an hourglass and scythe in a manner typical of the vanitas paintings of the era. The stage-like setting hints at the theatrical nature of public dissections.
The illustrations contain many surprising details, such as the anatomist’s hand holding a piece of the cerebellum. Despite the violence of the dissection process, he seems committed to portraying each part respectfully, reminding us of its beauty.
illustrations by Jan Wandelaar
for Bernard Albinus's (1653-1721)
Musculorum Corporis Humani and
Tabulae Sceleti
Albinus was an anatomist who was the first to understand the vascular connection between mother and fetus. He was a medical professor at Leyden University in Holland and it was there that he met Jan Wandelaar.
Albinus is the author of Tabulae Sceleti e Musculorum Corporis Humani, published in 1747 about 200 years after the books by Vesalius. While Vesalius used robust and sometimes exaggerated sizes in his images, Albinus was determined to use mathematical precision. Albinus closely oversaw the anatomical aspects of the drawings but Wandelaar was able to create the settings.
The rhino In the background is Clara, the Asian rhino famous throughout Europe that was held in the Amsterdam zoo at the time this work was created. The two of them were so impressed when seeing the rhino in person that they agreed she would be included in the atlas.
Jacques Fabien Gautier d'Agoty (1716-1785)
D’Agoty was born in 1716, just as color printing was being developed. He was briefly the assistant to master printer Jacob Christian Le Blon, who invented color printing. D’Agoty adapted his techniques. His illustrations are done with 4 plates per print, using yellow, red, blue, and black.
He hoped to make his images the standard for medical students, despite their inaccuracies.
He performed most of the dissections that he used for his preparatory sketches and drawings.
He produced a series of short books on anatomy and published a scientific journal with his son called Observations sur l’histoire naturelle
step 1: rock the plate to create burrs that will hold the ink
step 1: rock the plate to create burrs that will hold the ink
step 4: wipe excess ink from the plate to reveal the image
step 4: wipe excess ink from the plate to reveal the image
step 2: scrape and burnish the image into the plate. When excess ink is wiped from the plate, the smoother areas will be lighter.
step 2: scrape and burnish the image into the plate. When excess ink is wiped from the plate, the smoother areas will be lighter.
step 5: run through press and then pull print
step 5: run through press and then pull print
step 3 ink the plate
step 3 ink the plate
the mezzotint printing process
the mezzotint printing process
Nicolas Henri Jacob, (1781-1871)
Nicolas Henri Jacob, (1781-1871)
illustrator of the Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery, by Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery, pub. 1831-1851 (lithographs)
illustrator of the Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery, by Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery, pub. 1831-1851 (lithographs)
Oath of the Horatii, Jacques Louis David, 1784
They worked on this eight volume project for almost twenty years, and the last volume was not published until five years after Bourgery's death. The books provide detailed descriptions of anatomy and surgery techniques, embryology, and microscopic anatomy. Jacob's hand-colored life-size lithographs demonstrate his close first-hand observation.
Bourgery received a doctorate in medicine and went on to publish a textbook on surgery. His mentor was the comparative anatomist and paleontologist, Georges Cuvier, who was a professor at the Natural History Museum in Paris.
Bourgery wrote several scientific papers that were published by the Academy of Sciences in Paris and helped with the production of anatomical models made of papier mache for the Felix Thibert Anatomy Museum.
The unrivaled art academies of 19th century Paris produced countless competent artist and printmakers and many anatomical plates were developed in the city. The books were usually too expensive for most medical students to afford, but there was a huge demand for them among the upper class.
Henry Vandyke Carter, (1831-1897)
Henry Vandyke Carter, (1831-1897)
illustrator for Henry Gray (1827-1861)
illustrator for Henry Gray (1827-1861)
Gray's Anatomy, pub. 1858
Gray's Anatomy, pub. 1858
previous titles for the same book include: Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical, Anatomy of the Human Body and Gray's Anatomy: Descriptive and Applied.
previous titles for the same book include: Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical, Anatomy of the Human Body and Gray's Anatomy: Descriptive and Applied.
Gray entered medical school at the age of 18 and by the time he turned 25 had been made a Fellow of the Royal Society for his contributions to medical knowledge.
When England decided to form a board to regulate the professional medical education system, Gray asked his colleague, Henry Vandyke Carter, to collaborate with him on an anatomy textbook. Carter was an anatomist, surgeon, and artist.
They spent two years dissecting to prepare the notes and drawings. Gray wrote the text and Carter produced the illustrations, with wood engravings based on his drawings.
Though lithography was in use by this point, they decided to use wood engravings instead.
Antwerp had long been a hub of thriving markets, but it became the epicenter of western European commerce in the 15th century due to the influx of wealth from colonial trade. Major industries included sugar refining, diamond processing, tapestry production, silk factories, and finishing work on English cloth. It expanded to include breweries, malt factories, and bleaching works for textile production.
Imports of sugar, spices, and precious metals were exchanged for textiles and an array of other luxurious goods. At the height of its wealth, it accounted for 40% of word trade and had over 100,000 inhabitants, thousands of international merchants, and an abundance of skilled artisans, artists, and intellectuals.
It was also the center of extravagant spectacles held for visiting sovereigns, like Charles V, Philip, and the Archduke of Ernest of Austria.
The recurring theme of these festivities was the Four Parts of the World, used in pageantry decorations and tableau vivant, or living pictures, which were static stage sets composed of costumed figures, props, and painted backdrops.
Melchior Baumgartner, 1655-59
The frenzy of collecting natural and man-made curiosities among the growing merchant class created a demand for luxurious cabinets to display curiosities. As these cabinets grew in popularity, each European country developed a distinct style and combination of materials. Tortoise shell inlays were popular in Paris, the Spanish favored marble panels, the Dutch often used Japanese lacquerwork. In Antwerp, cabinets made of carved ebony were imported from Augsburg, Germany and then embellished with all manner of extraordinary details and expensive materials, like ivory from West Africa, tortoiseshell from the East Indies, and Venetian glass. Production of these cabinets involved woodworkers, silversmiths, jewelers, wood turners, locksmiths, painters, engravers, glassmakers, pietra dure workers (colored stones cut to create patterns or images) and more.
Initially, the miniature oil on copper paintings that were developed to embellish the cabinets featured Biblical or mythological scenes, but by the late 1600s, the dominant theme was the four continents. Soon after, the theme was adapted by painters and artisans of all kinds and personifications or symbols of the continents appeared on everything from prints and paintings to furniture and table ware.
The personification of the four continents from
Cesare Ripa's Nova Iconologia, 1593
on Cesare Ripa's Icons emblem book
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43883876?read-now=1&seq=17#page_scan_tab_contents
Symbols of the four continents emerged in the 16th century shortly after the first European voyages to the Americas and then became codified through repetition.
The personifications of the four continents used in maps, paintings, tableware, and more were established by the iconographer Cesare Ripa in his book Nova Iconologia, published in 1593. He drew upon the imagery of coins, sculptures, and the written word of ancient sources to compile a series of written allegories on everything from abstract ideas like poetry, justice, nature, piety, and emotions, to the seasons, the elements, and the four parts of the known world.
The book served as a popular reference among artists and artisans of all kinds and was reprinted ten years later with the addition of woodcuts. Ripa's symbols and personifications of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas became the standard and helped establish the racial biases that informed the imagery of maps, paintings, and crafts for the following centuries. They reflect the European view of the other three continents as "bountiful yet uncivilized" domains waiting to be cultivated. (Oliver Wunsch article here) Oliver Wunsch points out that the women in the woodcuts are physically similar and that their contrapposto pose and elongated bodies conform to the Classical ideals of the female body.
Martin de Vos, four continents
Martin de Vos, four continents
engraved by Adrien Coellart
engraved by Adrien Coellart
The access to new lands and resources brought enormous changes to Europe and the theme of the four continents appeared in allegorical prints, decorative maps, and the frontispieces of natural history books. Each continent was symbolized by their most recognizable cities or landmarks and populated with a smattering of the plants, animals, inhabitants, and prized resources found in each.
Out of these short-hand references to identify people of various lands came the stereotypes and biases that linger today.
Genetic studies of the late 20th century have demonstrated that there are no bio-genetically distinct races.
In the early 18th century, the concept of "races" emerged to divide the human species as European naturalists embraced the practice of sorting humans by appearance. Today's understanding of "race" is often attributed to an essay by a French physician named Francois Bernier that was published in 1684 with the title, “A New Division of the Earth by Different Species or Races of Men.” While the attempts to divide humans into subspecies based on physical traits have persisted since the 17th century, there has been no agreement upon exactly which physical traits are crucial to determine race, and so the term "race" remains imprecise. DNA tests have shown that the genetic difference between any two people is less than one percent.
Contemporary scholars reason that the construction of races is a reflection of the European attitudes towards the various populations they encountered in the period of exploration and colonization.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43883876?read-now=1&seq=17#page_scan_tab_contents
https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/show/the-art-of-cartography/visscher
https://www.journal18.org/issue10/rosalba-carrieras-four-continents-and-the-commerce-of-skin/
Orbis Terrarum Tabula Recens Emendata Et In Lucem Edita, “The World Map Recently Amended and Published” was published by Claes Visscher in Amsterdam in 1663
view the enlarged map here
https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/exhibits/show/the-art-of-cartography/visscher
Visscher's map depicts the four continents as outlined by Ripa. The map reflects the national pride during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. They had finally won independence from Spain, were out-competing the Iberians in international trade, making strides in science, art, and military conquest, and enjoying the wealth from their colonies in Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Depictions of the four continents demonstrate the widespread view of the "others" as being less civilized that Europe. While the women representing the other continents were often (but not always) bare-breasted, Europe wears fine clothes and a crown, and is surrounded by symbols of art, music, and military might.
The others are surrounded by fearsome animals representing savagery and wild places. They are seen with a few of their most valuable resources, such as the incense from Asia and ivory or coral of Africa. Images of the Americas occasionally contained a reference to the gold of El Dorado and was always portrayed as a place of violence, usually with a head pierced by a bow somewhere in sight.
Four Parts of the World
Four Parts of the World
Jan van Kessel, America
Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626-1679)
Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626-1679)
(grandson of Breughel the Elder) was a highly regarded Flemish artist from Antwerp who painted subjects of nature from insects, floral still-lifes, landscapes, animal scenes, and allegories. (There are several painters with the same name and he used two styles of signing his paintings, so his work has been hard to identify.) He was especially interested in depicting allegories of the four seasons, the four senses, and the four parts of the world.
He painted hundreds of miniatures on copper, many of which were used to embellish cabinets, and then adapted the style of the cabinet to complete a wall painting that was composed of a large central image of each continent personified, surrounded by sixteen miniatures that highlighted the flora, fauna, and riches of each continent. These works of art imitated the cabinets by using carved ebony frames to join multiple paintings together.
The arrangement of smaller scenes around the larger imitate the decorative maps of the era, which featured representations of the seasons, the elements, the planets, or vignettes of the most recognizable cities or citizens of each continent.
It's likely that Van Kessel created this unusual work as a combination of artistic expression and financial interest, as the miniature paintings used in cabinetry were not as highly valued as paintings that hung on a wall. In addition, ebony was prized for its rarity and could only be manipulated by the finest craftsmen, which elevated the desirability of the artwork.
Van Kessel was committed to accuracy and realism and referred to scientific depictions as well as first hand observation. His images of the continents were informed by natural history books, travelogues, maps, paintings and prints of the 16th and 17th centuries.
left: Europe, Jan van Kessel, 1660
left: Europe, Jan van Kessel, 1660
Africa, by Jan van Kessel
Red coral, aka blood coral (on the ground in front of the lion) was described by Pliny as being the most valuable kind. It was highly prized in Europe and appears consistently in the images of Africa. Pliny is represented as one of the statues
Asia, by Jan van Kessel
Featured are the silkworms and the rugs and textiles made from silk. In the lower right hand corner, the methods of silk production are depicted. Pliny described the silkworm and its uses in great detail in his book on insects.
Also, several censers of incense, buddha sculpture, assorted sculptures,
detail from Ferdinand van Kessel's "Four Parts of the World" oil on copper, 1689
Venice, from Ferdinand van Kessel's "Four Parts of the World"
Ferdinand van Kessel
Ferdinand van Kessel
(1648–1696)
(1648–1696)
This is from a series that was commissioned by the king of Poland. The series is called Ansichten aus den vier Weltteilen mit Szenen von Tieren (Views from the four parts of the world with scenes of animals) and consisted of 68 oil paintings on copper. Each continent was depicted in a larger central image and surrounded by 16 miniatures featuring cities or landscapes that served as the backdrop to the flora and fauna found in the region.
Van Kessel painted many similar works for use as decorative elements on extraordinary cabinet furniture, but this series was created to stand alone as a work of art.
This ordering appears to be based on cartography from that period, when maps of the continents were illustrated with a multitude of real or imaginary animals surrounded by borders divided into small scenes with representations of the planets, the seasons and the four elements, or maps of countries surrounded by small vignettes with views of the most important cities.
Four Parts of the World by Jan van Kessel
Arnold van den Berg, aka Arnoldus Montanus, was a teacher who wrote books on theology, history, and the geography of the Netherlands and of distant countries. The Dutch were renowned throughout Europe for their maps, atlases, and globes, and so despite the wild inaccuracies of this book, it was very popular. It reflected the interest in "exotic geography," (Benjamin Post, Dutch Atlantic Connections)
Arnoldus Montanus
Arnoldus Montanus
(c. 1625–1683)
(c. 1625–1683)
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/arnoldus-montanus-new-and-unknown-world-1671/
These illustrations are from his book, publishes in 1671, based on descriptions from countless sources, and no first-hand observation. The title of the book is "The New and Unknown World: or Description of America and the Southland, Containing the Origin of the Americans and South-landers, remarkable voyages thither, Quality of the Shores, Islands, Cities, Fortresses, Towns, Temples, Mountains, Sources, Rivers, Houses, the nature of Beasts, Trees, Plants and foreign Crops, Religion and Manners, Miraculous Occurrences, Old and New Wars: Adorned with Illustrations drawn from the life in America, and described by Arnoldus Montanus".
Luca Giordano (1634-1705), Four Parts of the World,
clockwise: Europe, Africa, America, Asia
The Symbols
The Symbols
descriptions of his icons found here
Europe is portrayed as a benevolent queen, overseeing the uncivilized people who come bearing gifts of the land. She wears luxurious robes, often in the blue associated with the Virgin Mary, and is flanked by overflowing cornucopias. Books, instruments, and artists tools indicate her sophistication and connection to the arts. Weapons and horses remind us of her military might. There may be a temple or some other symbol of Christianity in the background. All of these references reinforce the European vision of commercial, religious, and military domination.
Asia includes references to incense and perfumes (a smoking censer); a bouquet or garland of flowers and spices; often with a camel, sometimes with firewood. (why camel and firewood?) Both Asian and African figures appear in "Oriental" costumes. The luxuriously adorned camels are a reference to the famous Persian courts and gardens. The Romans used images of the camel on their coins as a symbol of the East and the animal represented trade, commerce, and luxury. The female representing the continent wears either a garland of flowers, as a symbol of the temperate climate and abundance of life's pleasures, or a turban to symbolize Islam.
Africa usually dark skinned, wearing a coral or pearl necklace, with dangerous animals. Figures often wear hides.
Many of the symbols used in the personification of Africa were first used on Roman coins. Like many Renaissance collections, Cesare Ripa was familiar with these coins from the 2nd century CE. He used the basket of grain found on the coins that referred to the Roman reliance on wheat from North Africa, and he imitated the lions, reptiles, and scorpion found on the coins in reference to her "savage" animals.
North Africa was an important source of grain for the ancient Romans. Ripa borrowed the basked of cornstalks from the 2nd century Roman coins, which were familiar to Renaissance collectors. The basket was replaced in later images by the cornucopia, the symbol of abundance from Greek mythology, and appeared in images of all the continents. The coins also used images of lions and reptiles, and those became established symbols.
America is often the only bare-breasted figure, and usually wears feathers, has bow and arrow, and stands on an arrow-pierced head. The crocodile or reptile symbolizes savagery and became the consistent symbol of American fauna. American figures are usually depicted as violent. There are occasional references to the promise of the gold of El Dorado, symbolized by heaps of gold and jewelry at her feet.
https://www.journal18.org/issue10/rosalba-carrieras-four-continents-and-the-commerce-of-skin/
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3257853?read-now=1&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents
Jan Wandelaar, Frontispiece to Carl Linnaeus, Hortus Cliffortianus (Amsterdam, 1738)
The hand-colored engraving uses the symbols of the four continents
In System of Nature, (published in 1735) Linneaus divided humans into four categories, based on skin colors. It has been argued that he developed his incomplete theories of physiological differences based on the images of the four continents created in the preceding century.
Scholars suggest that he based his incomplete theories on physiology on the imagery of the four continents. Oliver Wunsch points out in his article on Rosalba Carriera how influential the repetitive images of these personifications could be in shaping public beliefs on race and skin color.
Read the full article on Rosalba Carriera's Four Continents and the Commerce of Skin, by Oliver Wunsch here
The Four Continets, oil on canvas, 1615
Peter Paul Rubens
Peter Paul Rubens
Rubens personified the major river of each continent as a male.
The Four Parts of the World
The Four Parts of the World
article here
and here (on Kessel)
on the question of race
on Cesare Ripa's Icons emblem book
https://www.jstor.org/stable/43883876?read-now=1&seq=17#page_scan_tab_contents
abolitionist fabric made in France
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