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

eighteenth century many <strong>of</strong> the European art schools were in the process <strong>of</strong>
establishing a coherent curriculum and the formalised study <strong>of</strong> anatomy became
an integral part <strong>of</strong> the education <strong>of</strong> a developing artist. This central part <strong>of</strong> an
artist’s education required models that showed the human muscular system.
These models, know as écorché models, show flayed men, stripped back to reveal
their muscles displayed through dynamic poses. Often beautifully rendered and
sometimes cast in bronze, these models provided an intermediate stage for artists
to create paintings and understand the body. 85
Ecorché models were initially produced during the renaissance by such artists as
Ludovico Cigoli (1559 –1613) and became particularly popular both in art schools
and medical schools during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. 86
<strong>An</strong>thea Callen argues that during the nineteenth century in Paris there was a
substantial cross-pollination between the disciplines <strong>of</strong> art and medicine since
the anatomists who taught at the medical school <strong>of</strong>ten also lectured in the art
school. 87 The crossover <strong>of</strong> teachers between the two disciplines would have
influenced the form <strong>of</strong> the models so as to make them relevant both to artists
studying the muscular and skeletal systems and to medical students learning
each muscle’s group and function.
85 Elkin, 1999, p. 134.
86 Kemp and Wallace, 2000, p. 78.
87 Callen, 1997, p. 24.