For centuries, the structure of the human body was a fundamental concern for both medicine and art. Anatomy was a basic component of artistic education, and artists were a recognized part of the market for anatomical illustration. At the intersection of art and science, this exhibition looks at the shared vocabulary of anatomical images and at the different methods used to reveal the body through a wide range of media, from woodcut to neon.
This exhibition is presented in English and Spanish. It is one of a series that will test ways to make the presentations in our galleries more welcoming and accessible.
Esta exhibición se presenta en inglés y en español. Es parte de una serie de exhibiciones bilingües que pondrá a prueba varias formas de hacer el contenido que presentamos en nuestras galerías más acogedor y accesible.
Figure displaying the muscles of the abdomen. From Jacopo Berengario da Carpi, Isagogae breves perlucidae ac uberrimae in anatomiam humani corporis …, 2nd ed. (Bologna, 1523), fol. 7r. Getty Research Institute, 84-B28214
Abdominal dissection with detail of the gall bladder, after Jan Steven van Calcar. From Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (Basel, 1543), p. 365 [465]. Getty Research Institute, 84-B27611
Academy of Painters, about 1600, Pietro Francesco Alberti. Getty Research Institute, 2721-731
The Muscles of the Eye in its Natural Position and the Muscle of the Eyelid, Shown Separately. From Thomas Bartholin, Anatome ex omnium veterum recentiorumque observationibus, 5th rev. ed. (Leiden, 1686), p. 507, pl. 9. Getty Research Institute, 93-B10050
Dissected legs walking in a landscape, by 1616, Francesco Valesio after Odoardo Fialetti. From Giulio Casseri, Tabulae anatomicae, book 4, pp. 90-91, pl. 31, in Adriaan van den Spiegel, Opera quae extant, omnia (Amsterdam, 1645). Getty Research Institute, 84-B2833
Tableau of fetal skeletons, Cornelis Huyberts. From Frederik Ruysch, Thesaurus anatomicus tertius (Amsterdam, 1703), pl. 1. Getty Research Institute, 94-B12267
Life-size anatomical figure, seen from the front (one of a set of three) (detail), 1780, Antonio Cattani. Getty Research Institute, 2014.PR.17
Life-size anatomical figure, seen from the front (one of a set of three), 1780, Antonio Cattani. Getty Research Institute, 2014.PR.17
Life-size dissected woman (detail), 1750, Jacques Fabien Gautier Dagoty. From Jacques Fabien Gautier Dagoty, Anatomie générale des viscères en situation, de grandeur et couleur naturelle, avec l'angeologie, et la neurologie de chaque partie du corps humain (Paris, [1752]), pls. 1–3. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Life-size dissected woman, 1750, Jacques Fabien Gautier Dagoty. From Jacques Fabien Gautier Dagoty, Anatomie générale des viscères en situation, de grandeur et couleur naturelle, avec l'angeologie, et la neurologie de chaque partie du corps humain (Paris, [1752]), pls. 1–3. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The head of the Apollo Belvedere, rendered anatomically, Nikolaj Utkin after Jean Galbert Salvage. From Jean Galbert Salvage, Anatomie du gladiateur combattant, applicable aux Beaux Arts (Paris, 1812), pl. 1. Getty Research Institute, 85-B12146
Dissection of chest and abdomen, Thomas Sinclair after Joseph Maclise. From Joseph Maclise, Surgical Anatomy (Philadelphia, 1851), pl. 26. Getty Research Institute, 1373-163
Smith's New Outline Map of the Human System, 1888, American Manikin Co. Peoria, IL. Biomedical Library. Library Special Collections for Medicine and the Sciences, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA
Ken Moody, negative 1985, print 2011, Robert Mapplethorpe. Gift of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. © Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation. 2012.52.10
Robert, 2018, Tavares Strachan. Photo: Andrea D’altoè Neonlauro. Photo courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York
Under the Skin: Drawing Anatomy
March 12, 2022
Getty Center
The Polykleitos Problem: Illusions of the Ideal in European Anatomical Images
June 24, 2022
Getty Center and Online
A Popular 17th-Century Book Gives a Lesson in Dissection
Lift the flaps and look inside
Illuminating the Invisible
A body in neon honors the first Black astronaut
The Art of Anatomy from the 16th Century to Today
Our Bodies, Our Selves
Explore an anatomical toy from the 1960s
Why We Gave These Prints a Bath
Learn why centuries-old paper might need a little TLC
Bodies, Bodies, Bodies
An episode of Becoming Artsy explores the art and science of medical illustration
Explore this exhibition with a free audio tour, available in English and Spanish. Download the GettyGuide® app