Digital Gallery

Italian surgeon and physician Jacopo Berengario da Carpi (ca. 1460–ca. 1530) was among the first to publish anatomy texts with illustrations based on his own dissection of hundreds of bodies. After the invention of the printing press in the 1450s, Berengario created multiple copies of anatomical woodcut engravings. In 1522, after studying the work of Italian surgeon and anatomist Mondino de Luzzi (ca. 1270–1326), he published Isagogae breves, a compilation of Mondino’s work that included Berengario’s woodcuts. This 1523 edition has four additional illustrations of the heart and the brain. Although the illustrations in this text are simple and do not contain significant anatomical details, Berengario’s work is considered the beginning of a new age in anatomical studies.

English anatomist John Browne (1642–1702) became known for copying, altering, and presenting the illustrations of other engravers and anatomists as his own work. Although the legal concept of copyright did not yet exist, anatomists took notice. English surgeon and anatomist William Cowper, also accused of copying others, nevertheless openly criticized Browne for perpetuating errors in anatomy by copying outdated renderings. This text was also closely based on Myskotomia (1684) written by English anatomist and surgeon William Molins (1617–1691). Despite altering the poses, backgrounds, and clothing, many of the forty copper plate illustrations are nearly exact copies of Giulio Cesare Casserio’s (ca. 1552–1616)* illustrations in Tabulae Anatomicae (1627).

Despite being accused of plagiarism after writing A compleat treatise of the muscles (1681), English anatomist John Browne’s (1642–1702) Myographia nova was yet another compilation of others’ work and also a successful publishing endeavor—10 editions were eventually printed. This particular edition contains a new syllabus musculorum by the anatomist Charles Scarborough (1615–1694) and additional copper plate illustrations. Publishing new editions of books in different languages with slightly modified content and new titles was a smart business decision for many of these scholars. By slightly altering new editions, Browne and other anatomists could keep selling books without producing much new work.

Anatomische Tafeln contains the German translation by Simon Paulli (1603–1680) of two well-known anatomical texts by the Italian anatomist Giulio Cesare Casserio (ca. 1552–1616) and his Belgian student, Adriaan van de Spiegel (1578–1625). The first is a reproduction of Tabulae anatomicae LXXIIX (1632) and the second is De formato foetu liber singularis (1626). Pauli also included appendix of Latin writings as the volume’s third part.

In a 1530s scholarly collaboration, French physicians Charles Estienne (1504–ca. 1564) worked with Etienne de La Rivière (d. 1569) on dissections and illustrations while artist Jean Jollat (fl. 1530–1545) produced the woodcuts. Although ready for publication in 1539, a dispute between the two delayed printing of the book until 1545. Meanwhile, in 1543, the Flemish anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) published, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem.

Maʻaśeh Ṭoviyah, a Hebrew encyclopedia, is one of the first Hebrew books to have scientific and medical illustrations. Its frontispiece shows a portrait of the author, Ṭoviyah Kats (ca. 1652–1729), surrounded by books and wearing a doctor’s ring, a fur lined cape, and a hat. He holds a book in one hand, and an astroglobe in the other—symbolizing his quest to learn the natural order of the universe. The encyclopedia has eight sections—theology, astronomy, medicine, hygiene, illnesses from syphilis, botany, the universe, and the four elements—but most of it is devoted to medicine. One notable engraving quaintly compares the interior of a human body with that of a four-story house.

The Composite Man first appeared as serial chapters in the Journal of Orifical Surgery between April 1899 and January 1901. Soon after, Edwin Hartley Pratt (1849–1930) compiled them into a book to popularize anatomy by using accurate, accessible, and humorous writing. Each chapter introduces a different “man” who explains his anatomical function to the reader. Some of these include: Bony Man, Muscular Man, Arterial Man, Venous Man, Lymphatic Man, Skin Man, Connective Tissue Man, Cerebro-Spinal Man, and Sub-Conscious Man. A simple anatomical color illustration of the featured “man” accompanies each chapter. He succeeded in his effort to popularize anatomy: the publisher printed 19 editions between 1901 and 1921.

This rare Persian manuscript was one of the first in the world to contain detailed anatomical illustrations. The title translates to “Description of the Body,” and the text summarizes many of the observations made by the Ancient Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher Claudius Galen (129–ca. 216). Six illustrations detail the spinal cord, circulatory and skeletal systems, skin, digestion, and human gestation. The final picture shows a female body carrying a fetus, but the woman’s body looks no different than all the other illustrations. Medieval Muslim physicians added significantly to scientific understanding of anatomy and the human body through works such as this.

One of the first anatomy books published in Rome in the Spanish language, this became Juan Valverde de Amusco’s (ca. 1525–ca. 1588) most famous work. Like most anatomists during the period, Valverde compared existing works, performed his own dissections, and created new texts based on combining old and new information. The plate showing the flayed cadaver holding its own skin is one of Valverde’s most well-known images.

In this Italian translation of Juan Valverde de Amusco’s (ca. 1525–ca. 1588) Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano (1556), the chapters remain the same, but the order of the plates is slightly different. The 350-page book is a compilation of seven chapters that discuss the main elements of the human body. The majority of the copperplate illustrations were taken from Andreas Vesalius’s (1514–1564) De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (1543).

Jacques Gamelin (1738–1803) became a successful artist through the encouragement of his employer, a French industrialist, who recognized that Gamelin’s artistic promise far exceeded his business acumen and sent him to an art academy. Gamelin painted and engraved popular battle scenes, but his best-known work is Nouveau recueil d'ostéologie et de myologie, a two-part collection that includes anatomical scenes with mischievous skeletons at play, in religious and war vignettes, and many with Death at the helm. Included in this work is an engraved portrait of his lifelong patron, Baron de Puymaurin, to whom he dedicated the book. Gamelin also served as a painter to Pope Clement XIV.

The successors of Swiss anatomist, botanist, and physiologist Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777) considered him to be the founder of a new epoch in anatomy and physiology. The eight parts published in 3 volumes reflect Haller’s precise investigations, corrections, and attention to detail in the entire arterial system of the body. This work served as an essential source about arteries and organs for more than a century.

English physician and anatomist Francis Sibson (1814–1876) focused his anatomical studies on organs, particularly the heart and lungs. Medical Anatomy stressed the difference between healthy and diseased bodies, and how organs move and exist in living bodies—in contrast to the cadavers students typically examined. Sibson emphasized the differences that can be found between one body and the next and explained the natural and pathological reasons for such anomalies and variety among specimens. This volume contains 21 color plates and more than two dozen smaller drawings.

Published when he was 28 years old, this work brought Brussels-born anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564) immediate fame and prominence, as soon after, he was appointed physician to the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Accompanying the text are more than 250 anatomical illustrations printed from detailed woodcuts far superior to the drawings in other physiology atlases of the time. Among the illustrations are the frontispiece of Vesalius himself at the center of a crowded anatomy theatre.

A military doctor in Napoleon’s army, physician Jean Galbert Salvage (1770–1813) earned a post in Paris after excellent service. Once there, Salvage developed his artistic skills to create Anatomie du gladiateur combattant as the subject of his anatomy text. By using the Borghese Gladiator, an ancient Roman statue that had recently been purchased by Napoleon and on display in the Musée Napoleon, Salvage blended the best anatomical knowledge with what was considered the most revered art and sculpture in the Western world at that time. The drawings show the Gladiator from all angles with his muscles and bones anatomically rendered. These particular anatomical studies represent a genre within fine art as well as being instructive.

In 1837, American doctor W. C. Roberts (1810–1873) translated and printed 1831 Anatomia methodica by Jean-Baptiste Sarlandière (1787–1838). Sarlandière hoped that this small, reference-like volume might be a useful guide for physicians, students, and artists alike. The 15 leaves of color lithographed plates each depict collections of human physiology: muscles (myography), bones (osteography), organs (splanchnography), nerves (neurography) and the circulatory system (angiography). Both the color and the meticulous identification notations make the publication an inviting and captivating treasure.

Unique to anatomical studies at the time, this atlas by Christian Wilhelm Braune (1831–1892) contains illustrations drawn from a frozen human cadaver that had been sliced with a very fine-toothed saw. This technique provided a view of the body’s interior from a horizontal perspective. Braune hoped that his illustrations would increase surgical knowledge, especially the location of organs in relation to each other. In addition, Braune studied the physiology of the human gait—the biomechanics of gravity and balance. The illustrations he created from these studies helped establish an understanding of the center of gravity in the body. The volume begins with Braune’s acknowledgement of the young man whose body he dissected—a physically healthy 21-year-old who had hanged himself—and the process by which he froze the young man’s body for dissection.

Bertinatti’s publication consists of two volumes of text and an atlas with illustrations of anatomical studies. The realistic anatomical drawings, at times, are set in an imaginary setting.

This 1783 edition includes an etching of the author, Bartholomeo Eustachi (d. 1574) teaching and dissecting in an anatomy theatre on the title page. The plates feature a unique identification system—the use of numbered rulers on the edges of each plate to allow for easy in-text identification without adding numbers or letters next to the image. Born sometime at the beginning of the 16th century, Bartolomeo Eustachi is among the early founders of anatomical studies, and he contributed essential knowledge to human physiology. He significantly increased knowledge about the inner ear (thus the Eustachian tube bears his name), discovered the adrenal glands, and wrote the first in-depth study of teeth. He served as the physician to the Duke of Urbino and later to the Cardinal Giulio Della Rovere in Rome. Although completed in 1552, due to the religious censoring of anatomists’ work during the Renaissance, this volume was hidden in the papal library until its first publication in 1714.

This thin volume is remarkable in its use of a color printing method based in mezzotint and etching techniques. The eight color plates in this volume may be combined in pairs to create four larger images. All but one feature the anatomy of pregnant and birthing women. French artist Gautier d’Agoty (1717–1785) studied for many years with the painter and engraver Jacob Christoph Le Blon. The two men later quarreled over which one of them had invented the color printing method both used. Gautier d’Agoty’s prints convey a distinct painterly quality, and the specimens are often posed in the typical 18th-century portrait style, calmly gazing back at the viewer despite their lack of skin, exposed muscles, and organs.

Italian physician Paolo Mascagni (ca. 1752–1815) is best known for providing the first systematic and complete description of the lymphatic system in 1787. The publication of Vasoum lymphaticorum brought him fame in Europe and led to a professorship in Pisa and membership in two medical academies. Fifteen years after his death three professors at Pisa compiled and printed Anatomia universale. This 600-page atlas is a comprehensive study of anatomy that includes 44 hand-colored plates. The careful shading and rendering of the etching, along with the use of color, makes some of the images appear three-dimensional.

Scottish anatomist and physician William Hunter (1718–1783) spent much of his career studying pregnancy, labor, and the gravid uterus. Although his younger brother John was more well-known as a physician, William’s work on the anatomy of the pregnant uterus brought attention to a subject largely ignored prior to his studies. In 1751, he seized upon an opportunity—the pregnant woman whose body is depicted died suddenly and at a time of year when cold weather allowed for dissections. This work broke new ground in its description of the musculature of the uterus and the uterine lining. Hunter also discovered that the fetal-placental circulation was completely independent of that of the mother. Written in both Latin and English, the succinctly written volume contains 34 exquisitely detailed illustrations by Dutch engraverJan van Rymsdyk (fl. 1750–1788)

This volume ultimately brought together the work of two physician-anatomists, an artist, and an engraver. After Adriann van de Spiegel’s death, Liberalis Crema, Spiegel’s son-in-law, wanted to posthumously publish Spiegel’s unillustrated text, De formato foetu liber singularis. To accompany the text, he obtained nine copperplate engravings that anatomist Guilio Cessari had previously completed on the topic of fetal development. These illustrations are the work of Titian’s student, Odoardo Fialetti, and engraver Francesco Valesio. They show graceful pregnant women in various stages of uterine dissection with wombs, newborns, and placenta, all artistically conveyed.

Published one year after he died, Italian scholar and artist, Bernardino Genga’s (1620–1690) Anatomia per uso et intelligenza del disegno features 59 copperplate engravings of bones and muscles, as well as drawings of famous antique sculptures from a variety of angles. A scholar of Classical medical texts—Hippocrates in particular—Genga was also adept in the preparation of anatomical specimens. He taught anatomy to artists at the French Academy and practiced surgery in the Hospital Santo Spirito in Sassia, both in Rome.