Friday, April 25, 2008

Yet MORE on Japanese Anatomical Charts!







Yes, yet MORE on the Japanese Anatomical Charts discussed in two recent posts (here and here). Now we have a translation! The folks at Pink Tentacle have written a full story on these charts, complete with names, dates, and history. They have even thrown in some newly reassembled images (see above).

We discover that these are called the Kaibo Zonshinzu Anatomy Scrolls (1819) and were painted by Kyoto-area physician Yasukazu Minagaki (1784-1825) under the tutelage of Dutch anatomist Philip von Siebold, the first European to teach Western medicine in Japan. We also learn that they are regarded as the finest collection of Japanese early 19th-century anatomical drawings, and that the subjects dissected and portrayed were "heinous criminals executed by decapitation."

So pleased that a translator was able to translate this page and answer so many of my questions. Check out the full story here. And see the original collection here.

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