A Body of Evidence: An Art Historical perspective on Eighteenth and ...

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that its flesh is the land, its bones are the structure <strong>of</strong> the rocks … its blood is the pools <strong>of</strong> water … its breathing and its pulse are the ebb and flow <strong>of</strong> the sea.“ 65 As already remarked, the definition <strong>of</strong> man as a part <strong>of</strong> the order <strong>of</strong> the world was encompassed within the Renaissance belief that the macrocosm <strong>of</strong> the universe was reflected in every microcosm, including the order <strong>of</strong> the body. 66 It seems that there was a corresponding reflection back into the definition <strong>of</strong> nature as man’s awareness <strong>of</strong> the construction and function <strong>of</strong> the body advanced. Therefore, as demonstrated by Leonardo’s quotation, the surrounding world was defined in the new terms <strong>of</strong> the human anatomy. Beginning with Vesalius, illustration <strong>of</strong> anatomy in both models and drawings was one not <strong>of</strong> cadavers and dissection but rather a living form <strong>of</strong> skeletons and eviscerated bodies. This vision <strong>of</strong> apparently ‘walking dead’ had a tw<strong>of</strong>old purpose. First it was a method <strong>of</strong> distancing anatomy and the workings <strong>of</strong> the living body from the indelicate nature <strong>of</strong> dissection and the associated gruesome procurement <strong>of</strong> bodies. Second, this form <strong>of</strong> representation emphasised that anatomy was a study not <strong>of</strong> pathology but rather <strong>of</strong> the living interior <strong>of</strong> the human body. Barbara Stafford argues that there was a clear distinction between the cerebral function <strong>of</strong> explaining the internal workings <strong>of</strong> the human body, and the physical or corporeal reality <strong>of</strong> cutting and dissecting cadavers. 67 The move away from the reality <strong>of</strong> dissection was demonstrated within the representation <strong>of</strong> anatomy in texts and models. 65 Quoted in Burke, p. 208. 66 Kemp, 1981, p. 114. 67 Stafford, 1991, p. 47.
The distinction between dissection and the higher learning <strong>of</strong> anatomy was emphasised, in illustration, by ‘constructing’ the figure in the landscape. As we have seen, landscapes were initially employed in the illustrations <strong>of</strong> Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica. Vesalius took a structuralist approach to develop his description <strong>of</strong> the body starting from the basis <strong>of</strong> the skeleton and then constructing the entity <strong>of</strong> the living body according to the function <strong>of</strong> its components and structure. 68 By building rather than progressively revealing the anatomy <strong>of</strong> the body the text indicates a more positive understanding <strong>of</strong> the parts <strong>of</strong> the body. Thus the skeleton was considered in almost architectural terms as the framework upon which to build the classically inspired body. 69 The reversal <strong>of</strong> order, to dissection, in the illustration <strong>of</strong> the body emphasised the structural focus <strong>of</strong> anatomy. A number <strong>of</strong> later anatomists such as Godfried Bidloo (1649 – 1713) and Bernard Siegfried Albinus (1697 – 1770) published anatomical texts that extended the study <strong>of</strong> anatomy. 70 Albinus’ Tabulae skeleti et musculorum corporis humani (1747) was innovative due to his pursuit <strong>of</strong> the ideal anatomical figure. He used meticulous measurements to inform drawings produced by Jan Wanderlaar (1690 –1759), and avoided drawing his examples from a single subject, instead 68 Hildebrand, 2004, p. 297. 69 Roberts and Tomlinson, 1992, p. 257. 70 Kemp, 2001, p. 11.
Page 1 and 2: A Body of<
Page 3 and 4: 1. Introduction. 2. The Emergence <
Page 5 and 6: The anatomical models were made by
Page 7 and 8: epresent Adam standing with his ski
Page 9 and 10: Vitruvius’ architectural treatise
Page 11 and 12: dissected with his own hand, depict
Page 13 and 14: dissection, which were based largel
Page 15 and 16: ook made it prohibitive to the ordi
Page 17 and 18: paintings and antiquities that he s
Page 19 and 20: anatomical models for their private
Page 21 and 22: was his desire to portray the body
Page 23 and 24: In 1775 the Imperial Royal Museum <
Page 25 and 26: The quotation demonstrates Goethe
Page 27 and 28: part. 62 The way that the body was
Page 29: Chapter Two -The Model Audience. Bu
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Page 35 and 36: needs of each <str
Page 37 and 38: anatomical models in the ennobling
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Page 45 and 46: the number of corp
Page 47 and 48: problems relating to disease. Moula
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Page 63 and 64: Conclusion. We can see from the ear
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Page 67 and 68: List of Illustrati
Page 69 and 70: Fig. 25 Jean-Antoi
Page 71 and 72: Appendix. The Tramond Company in Pa
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Page 75 and 76: Descartes, 1901: René Descartes Di
Page 77 and 78: Leoussi, 1998: Athena Leoussi, Nati
Page 79: Acknowledgements. I would like to t

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