Anatomy Presentation

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We’ll look at some of the fascinating illustrations that accompanied the study of biology and the role of artists in advancing and recording our understanding of human anatomy.

Fifteenth century medicine in Europe was based on the work of Roman physician Claudius Galen (129-200 CE), the body of Greek writings attributed to Hippocrates (circa 460-370 BCE), and the materia medica, or herbals, that compiled medical knowledge in hand-written texts. Ancient medical knowledge was preserved and transformed by the medieval Arab-speaking world, and shared with the Europeans.

By the 14th century, there was a renewed interest in studying the human form, plants, and nature in general. We'll look at the evolution of representation of humans in anatomical studies and its influence on fine art.

“Zodiac Man” Detail from Es spricht der Meÿster Almanasor, 1483, Augsburg. Origins unknown

Medical theory in the 15th century revolved around the four so-called bodily humors of blood, phlegm, and yellow and black bile, which were thought to control health and disease. They were assigned a temperament on a scale of hot to cold and wet to dry and believed to be influenced by the power of astrological forces.

The "Zodiac Man" diagrams the correlations between body parts and the signs of the zodiac. Physicians determined when to administer medication, perform surgery, or balance the humors, taking care not to interfere with specific body parts when the moon was passing through the corresponding sign.

Galen (129-200 ad)

Galen was a Greek physician, surgeon, philosopher and personal physician to several Emperors, including Marcus Aurelius and the gladiators.

He traveled extensively, always gathering and recording knowledge from local physicians along the way.

He was, of course, influenced by the contemporary theory of “humors”- the belief that health depended on the proper balance of blood, phlegm, and black and yellow bile. This idea is thought to have originated in Egypt, but was systematized by the ancient Greeks.

He studied anatomy and circulation by dissecting animals, particularly cats, monkeys and pigs, as dissecting humans was forbidden, and applied his knowledge of animal anatomy to his writings on humans. However erroneous, his work served as the foundation for the study of medicine throughout Europe until the 16th century.

Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi (809–873)

Hunayn 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.

Under the rule of the Abassid Caliphate in the 8th and 9th century, the city of Baghdad was founded and became the center of science, culture, philosophy, and invention in what is now considered the Golden Age of Islam.

Hunayn moved to Baghdad, as it was also the center of the translation movement. He worked with a handful of others 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.

Abu-Ali Al-Husain Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina, called Avicenna in the West (b.980- d.1037)

Avicenna was a Persian polymath and 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 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.

Above: 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 dietetics 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, though a cultured one, and was illustrated profusely. The book includes plants, with writings on agriculture and cooking in addition to medicinal uses and preparations.

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; the “animal members,” of the skull, eyes, ears, and brain, and the “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)

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.

woodcuts

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.

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

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.

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.

Wound Man, woodcut

Johannes Wechtlin

(1480 - 1585)

Illustrations for Feldtbuch der Wundartzney (1517, 1st edn.), Fieldbook for a Wound Doctor (aka military surgeon), 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.

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

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

(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.

engraving

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.

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's

Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, 1632

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.

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 best known for being the first to observe 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

Frontispiece by de Lairesse for Bidloo's

Anatomia humani corporis

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 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 5: pull the print by running through the press

step 3 ink the plate

the mezzotint printing process

Nicolas Henri Jacob, (1781-1871)

illustrator of the Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery, by Jean Baptiste Marc Bourgery, pub. 1831-1851 (lithographs)

Bourgery collaborated on his atlas of human anatomy with the artist, NH Jacob, who was a student of Jacques Louis David's.

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 commparative 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.

Gray's Anatomy, illustrated by Henry Carter and written by Henry Gray,

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.

Henry Vandyke Carter, (1831-1897)

illustrator for

Henry Gray (1827-1861)

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.

We'll end with Gray's Anatomy, a book still relevant to art students, and begin our anatomy drawing project.

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