A man holding an anatomy book with an engraving of a woman showing her viscera. Oil painting, 18th century.

The dress and hair style suggest that the work dates from the late 18th century and may be French, Italian, or Spanish. The book has not been identified. The painting shows table 27 of the opened book, is inscribed "Tab. XXVII" and contains two figures: the first ("Figura prima") shows a standing woman who exposes her dissected abdomen, and the second figure ("Figura secu[nda]") shows a detached uterus. The facing page contains the descriptive text, of which only the headings are legible: "Vigesimae s[eptimae] tabula[e] figura pri[ma] ... figura s[ecunda]" (i.e. First figure of table 27 ... second figure). The engraving is similar to a plate in Juan Valverde de Amusco, Anatomia del corpo humano, Rome 1560 (lib. III, tav. VI) and to one in J. Casserius, De humani corporis fabrica libri decem, Frankfurt 1632, tab. XVII of lib. VIII (inscribed Tab XIIX). However it is not identical to either of those engravings