Perspective
The Art of Anatomy
By Elaine Challacombe
Long before Body Worlds, physicians and artists depicted anatomy in ways that challenged society’s views of the human body.
Gunther von Hagens, whose Body Worlds exhibit is now on display at the Science Museum of Minnesota, has been making headlines around the world for his use of human bodies preserved using a process called “plastination.” Von Hagens, a German physician, has blended the science of anatomy with art, daring us to view the human body in a new way. The result is both shocking and fascinating.
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The frontispiece from The anatomy of humane bodies by William Cowper, 1698. Original copperplate engraving by Govard Bidloo.
A plate from Frederici Ruyschii Observationum anatomico-chirurgicarum centuria. Accedit Catalogus rariorum, quae in Museo Ruyschiano asservantur. Adjectis ubique iconibus aeneis naturalem magnitudinem repraesentantibus. Amstelodami, Apud Henricum & viduam Theodori Boom, 1691.
Quiquaesimasecunda tabula, a plate from Godefridi Bidloo Anatomia humani corporis, centum & quinque tabulis, per artificiosiss. G. de Lairesse ad vivum delineatis, demonstrata. Amstelodami, Sumptibus viduæ Joannis à Someren [etc.], 1685.
Planche VI from Exposition anatomique des organes des sens: jointe a la néurologie entiere humaines, ... conjectures sur l’électricité animale et le siége de l’ame par M. Dagoty. A Paris: Chez Demonville, M.D.CC.LXXV, 1775.
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Von Hagens is not the first to mix art and anatomy. Physicians and artists have collaborated for centuries to document anatomical discovery. Examples of some of the early efforts to illustrate the workings of the body are recorded in the anatomy atlas collection of the Owen H. Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Among the works, which were created over a span of six centuries, are the following examples of collaboration between anatomists and artists who challenged society to see the body as a beautiful and complicated structure.
The first image to the left is most noted for its inclusion in the 1698 publication The anatomy of humane bodies by William Cowper. Cowper purchased 105 engraved plates from anatomist Govard Bidloo’s work, composed a new text, and published his version with the frontispiece that was altered to bear his name and title. A bitter battle ensued between Bidloo and Cowper as to ownership of the images.
This copperplate engraving depicts one of the creations of Dutch anatomist and surgeon Fredrik Ruysch (1638-1731), who developed an injection technique and recipes for solidifying mediums that allowed him to preserve body parts. Ruysch, who earned his medical degree at Leiden University in the Netherlands, kept his formula a secret, although it is thought to have contained talc, white wax, and cinnabar. His clearing fluid was oil of lavender or turpentine, and his preserving fluid was 67 percent ethanol with black pepper. He used the preserved body parts to create three-dimensional artistic displays—“repositories of curiosities” or “cabinets” as Ruysch called them.
Ruysch was severely criticized for these creations, but his collection of 1,300 cabinets was viewed by the public, political figures, and members of royalty; studied by scientists; and written about in medical dictionaries of the day.
When he put the collection up for sale in 1715, it was purchased by Peter the Great, Czar of Russia. Some specimens remain preserved in the Leningrad Academy of Science.
For works such as this view of the thoracic region, it is speculated that anatomist Govard Bidloo (1649-1713) would perform the dissection, then leave an artist to do his work without professional guidance. The result was wonderfully artistic but inaccurate drawings.
Bidloo was a colorful personality who was not only a professor of anatomy but a playwright and librettist, a soldier, hospital administrator, and physician to William III of England. A contemporary of Ruysch, whose methods he disapproved of, Bidloo worked with artist Gerard de Lairesse, one of the most celebrated painters of the time. The drawings in the published work, Anatomia Humani Corporis, were engraved on copper for reproduction on the printing press.
The illustrations are not detailed enough for medical practice, and the book was too expensive for medical students to purchase, and therefore, did not sell well. Bidloo’s text was not distinguished; rather, it was the 105 artistic plates that were considered the real valuable element of the work.
This plate illustrates the color mezzotint process used by the Gautier D’Agoty family in the production of their anatomical atlases. The use of a green background to contrast with the anatomical details is a signature characteristic of their publications.
Jacques Fabian Gautier D’Agoty (1717-1785) was a printer who worked with French surgeon Jacques Francolis-Marie Duverny to publish a series of atlases that featured copper engravings of dissected figures. D’Agoty’s figures are not known for their accuracy but rather for their innovative use of color copperplate printing.
The unusual presentation of the subjects—their poses, postures, and facial expressions—gave an erotic sense to the images that shocked readers. D’Agoty’s most recognized work is from Myologie complete en couleur et grandeur naturelle, 1745. It is a dissection of the muscles of the back of a female subject. The woman is sitting straight up with carefully coiffed hair, her back muscles are carved out to form wings. She is often referred to as the flayed angel or anatomical angel.
Elaine Challacombe is curator of the Owen H. Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine.
These books and hundreds more are available at the University of Minnesota’s Owen H. Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine, 568 Diehl Hall, 505 Essex Street SE, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The library is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Call 612/626-6881 for more information.