The Anatomical Atlas

Routledge eBooks, pp. 27–54

Abstract

In 1685, Govert Bidloo and Gerard de Lairesse published their Anatomia Humani Corporis , an impressive anatomical atlas with 105 engravings of dissected bodies and body parts. It was published in a culture in which medical professors performed dissections in anatomical theatres, while regular theatres became spaces for knowledge transfer about human passions. Engaged in both sorts of theatres, Bidloo and Lairesse exemplify the interconnectedness of art, theatre, medicine and publishing in early modern Amsterdam. In this essay, we use the materiality of Anatomia as a key to unravel the entanglement of the city’s cultural industries, tracing the social, intellectual, aesthetic and commercial connections linking Bidloo, Lairesse, the theatre, and the publishers involved in the production of the atlas.

Authors 2

1. Weixuan Li Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University

2. Lucas Van der Deijl

   University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Groningen