works

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Wellcome Café

Wellcome Kitchen

Wellcome Shop

To make your visit as safe and enjoyable as possible, you’ll need to follow our safety measures inside our venue, including wearing a face covering unless you’re exempt. Find out how we're keeping you safe. You no longer need to book a ticket to enter the museum or library.

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

xxix, 381 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm

Leonardo da Vinci : the marvellous works of nature and man / Martin Kemp.

In this five part series, Dr Adam Rutherford investigates the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them. Here, Adam tells the story of Andreas Vesalius, the ‘founder of modern anatomy’, whose 1543 atlas of the human body, De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body), was the first of its kind. At the Wellcome Library in London, Adam views a first edition of the work. Vivian Nutton discusses Vesalius’ famous ‘muscle men’ sequence of illustrations; classic memento mori in ironically lifelike poses. These living skeletons showed the body in movement and reveal both the incredible accuracy and visual qualities of Vesalius’ dissections. Vesalius initially studied in Paris for several years where he gained a reputation as an extraordinarily skilled anatomist. When he arrived in Padua in 1537 (at the age of 23), he was swiftly promoted from student to teacher. Adam visits the theatre where Vesalius carried out his public dissections. By this time, public dissections had been performed for two centuries according to a strict tradition. The professor’s role was to read Galenic texts, while the procedure itself was carried out by a surgeon. Vesalius took a different approach, opting to perform the dissections himself. Keen to promote his work to a wider audience, Vesalius set about creating the Fabrica, with every illustration based on observational evidence. Versalius’ anatomy was informed by classic art. He referred to the muscle men as ‘canonical’ after Polykleitos, the Greek sculptor, whose canon spelt out the principles of harmony and proportion of the human body. Vesalius’ reputation secured him the role of physician to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. At Cambridge University Library, his influence can be clearly seen in sixteenth century English texts. After Vesalius, theories about the structure and functions of the body were only considered reliable if based on evidence.

The beauty of anatomy. 2/5.

In this five part series, Dr Adam Rutherford investigates the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them. In the final episode, Adam investigates the story of Gray’s Anatomy (1858), the most ambitious anatomical textbook ever produced. The arrival of anaesthetic in the mid-19th century allowed surgeons to perform longer and more complex procedures, which demanded an encyclopaedic knowledge of anatomy. At the Royal College of Surgeons, Adam views a first edition of the volume, originally titled Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical. Gray’s ambition was to cover the entire the human body in an affordable and accessible book; its 989 pages were completed in just three years. Gray’s Anatomy marked a departure from stylistic illustrations in favour of accurate, functional content. The project necessitated a huge number of dissections, all of which were carried out personally by Gray and Carter. Both were doctors at St Georges’ Hospital on Hyde Park Corner; Gray a fiercely competitive surgeon, and Carter, who came from a more modest background, an apothecary surgeon. The project’s success hinged on the 1832 Anatomy Act, which allowed unclaimed bodies of the poor to be dissected. When the two men fell out over the payment of fees, Carter took up a post as Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in Bombay. In the page proof of the first edition, Gray’s handwritten notes reveal his intention to minimise Carter’s role in the book. Gray went on to die of smallpox three years after its publication, at the age of 34. Gray’s Anatomy is now in its 40th edition, but subsequent revisions have transformed it beyond recognition. Many of the images are MRI or CT scans. The textbook also has an online component, making 3D imaging possible. All of the anatomists and artists featured in the series performed their own dissections. But new forms of medical imaging have made it possible for artists to create illustrations without having ever seen a corpse. Adam meets Richard Tibbetts, the lead artist, who uses computer aided design to compile the images. So is this the end of the relationship between art and anatomy, or has the relationship merely changed? Artist Eleanor Crook, who produces both artworks and medical models, believes we are now seeing ‘a new renaissance’ of anatomically-influenced artworks.

The beauty of anatomy. 5/5.

In this five part series, Dr Adam Rutherford investigates the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them. Adam begins by looking at the work of second century Roman anatomist Claudius Galen. Galen’s teachings dominated medicine for more than 1,500 years after his death. Best known for his theories on the four humours, Galen’s understanding of the body was rooted in the idea of balance; between body, mind, lifestyle and environment. Dissecting human bodies was banned under Roman rule; Galen’s anatomical knowledge was therefore gleaned from animals. His works were not illustrated, but later gave rise to a host of artist’s interpretations. At Lambeth Palace, Adam views a medieval Book of Hours dating from 1498. Its anatomical illustrations demonstrate a Galenic influence, linking heavenly bodies to anatomical structures. Adam observes medical students carrying out dissections in the lab. The word ‘autopsy’ means to see for yourself – the message Galen and his successors aimed to instil in their students. In the mid-15th century the fall of Constantinople enabled Galenic texts to flow into Europe for the first time. By then, public dissections of human corpses were popular annual events in Bologna. Meanwhile in Florence, Leonardo da Vinci realised Galen’s ambition to dissect human bodies. Adam travels to Windsor Castle to view some of Leonardo’s anatomical drawings and illustrations, now owned by the Royal family. Head of Prints and Drawings, Martin Clayton, highlights the extraordinary accuracy of Leonardo’s work, drawn entirely from observation. Galen and Leonardo were united in their view of the human body as a divine creation and a microcosm of the natural world. Finally, Adam visits the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova In Florence, where Leonardo carried out his dissections.

The beauty of anatomy. 1/5.

viii, 374 pages : illustrations (some color), charts ; 29 cm

The science of art : optical themes in western art from Brunelleschi to Seurat / Martin Kemp.

An exploration of Leonardo da Vinci's life and work, identifying what it was that made him so unique. Tells of his unfulfilled dreams, relationships with powerful patrons, and the truth about his views on God, humans, and nature.

xviii, 286 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 21 cm

Leonardo / Martin Kemp.

Open University course video exploring the often contradictory historical and bioarchaeological evidence as to the first appearance of syphilis in the British population.

1 video cassette (VHS) (25 min.) : sound, color, PAL

In search of syphilis.

280 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 28 cm

Bilderwissen : die Anschaulichkeit Naturwissenschaftlicher Phänomene / Martin Kemp ; Übersetzung und Ergänzungen für die deutsche Ausgabe von Jürgen Blasius.

47 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, coat of arms, portraits ; 21 cm

Dr. William Hunter at the Royal Academy of Arts / edited by Martin Kemp.

xii, 202 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm

Wellcome uses cookies.

More filters

Active filters:

Leonardo da Vinci : the marvellous works of nature and man / Martin Kemp.

The beauty of anatomy. 2/5.

The beauty of anatomy. 5/5.

The beauty of anatomy. 1/5.

The science of art : optical themes in western art from Brunelleschi to Seurat / Martin Kemp.

Leonardo / Martin Kemp.

In search of syphilis.

Bilderwissen : die Anschaulichkeit Naturwissenschaftlicher Phänomene / Martin Kemp ; Übersetzung und Ergänzungen für die deutsche Ausgabe von Jürgen Blasius.

Dr. William Hunter at the Royal Academy of Arts / edited by Martin Kemp.

Visualizations : the nature book of art and science / Martin Kemp.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Search the collections

More filters

Active filters:

Leonardo da Vinci : the marvellous works of nature and man / Martin Kemp.

The beauty of anatomy. 2/5.

The beauty of anatomy. 5/5.

The beauty of anatomy. 1/5.

The science of art : optical themes in western art from Brunelleschi to Seurat / Martin Kemp.

Leonardo / Martin Kemp.

In search of syphilis.

Bilderwissen : die Anschaulichkeit Naturwissenschaftlicher Phänomene / Martin Kemp ; Übersetzung und Ergänzungen für die deutsche Ausgabe von Jürgen Blasius.

Dr. William Hunter at the Royal Academy of Arts / edited by Martin Kemp.

Visualizations : the nature book of art and science / Martin Kemp.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome collection