tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582997874621015158.post2719141462587648272..comments2024-03-25T05:57:05.813-04:00Comments on Morbid Anatomy: Light and Dust: A Reading of Johannes Jacob Scheuchzer's 'Homo ex Humo': A Guest Post by Morbid Anatomy Scholar in Residence Richard BarnettJEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12838204584193436515noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6582997874621015158.post-30243605409086718262014-04-21T09:23:19.176-04:002014-04-21T09:23:19.176-04:00Thank you for this article and the interesting int...Thank you for this article and the interesting interpretation. I discuss the same print in my article in the Journal of the History of Collections. Here I try to give a more differentiated view on the collection of Ruysch and come to a slightly different interpretation of the print. The tone of the comments on the collection changed significantly between 1691 and 1728. The sorrowful vanitas element gradually made way for statements about the magnificence of the human body and its Creator. This corresponded with the current fysico-theological discourse, which became more popular among Dutch collectors at the beginning of the 18th century. I think the images outside the frame do not so much represent imperfection, but show the magnificence of natural creation that is juxtaposed to the godly creation in the frame: <br /><br />"The inscription ‘Homo ex Humo’ stresses the creative act of God, who moulded Adam’s body from the soil. The biblical story is framed by preparations by Ruysch, juxtaposing the natural process of generation from egg to foetus to the Divine act of will. On the console to the right stands one of Ruysch’s crying foetuses, detached from its original vanitas setting. His significance in this print is two-fold: his gesture prefigures the future Fall of Man, but in this constellation the reference made by Ruysch himself seems more applicable – the body ‘wrought as embroidery in the depths of the earth’. In the centre is shown the moment of the formation of men, while in the border the cloth gives proof of the wondrous result of this act of Creation. Scheuchzer’s print visualizes one of the connotations that came easily to mind when beholding the creations in Ruysch’s cabinet and shows the ambiguity with which the objects communicated with the spectator."<br /><br />The full article is on line on the site of the Journal of the History of Collections. Let's keep the debate about this fascinating Dutch cultural heritage alive. Thanks for the good work you do with this site and your museum.<br /><br />G.M. van de Roemer, 'From vanitas to veneration. The embellishments in the anatomical cabinet of Frederik Ruysch' in: Journal of the History of Collections 22 (2010), nr. 2, p. 169-186 (http://jhc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/fhp044 )Bert van de Roemerhttp://www.uva.nl/over-de-uva/organisatie/medewerkers/content/r/o/g.m.vanderoemer/g.m.van-de-roemer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com