Manuel d'anatomie Descriptive du Corps Humain (Paris, 1825)

Images, some unintentionally surrealistic, from Manuel d'anatomie Descriptive du Corps Humain, Représentée en Planches Lithographiées, published in Paris in 1825. Complements of University of Toronto's Anatomia 1522-1867.

Joseph Maclise (1815-1880)

From the wonderfully perusable University of Toronto site Anatomia 1522-1867.

Anatomical Models as Quirky Art Objects?

I suppose it was just a matter of time before someone created artsy, whimsical anatomical models; I just didn't expect it to be a main-stream medical-model house like 3B Scientific, and for the medical community, no less.
From the website:

Inspired by various popular 3B models, a circle of talented artists is committed to creating valuable anatomical art objects in small volumes. Here is a collection of frequently chosen subjects for you – wonderful works of art for your office!

The Heart Bared, in its Many Guises, at The Wellcome Collection

The Wellcome Collection is presenting a survey of "the heart" in medicine, art, myth, and culture. From the website:

The heart, widely understood as the place where life begins and ends, has always featured as a potent symbol in our religions, myths and rituals. Modern medical science has taught us that much of the power and influence traditionally attributed to the heart actually lies in the brain. Nevertheless we remain reluctant to let go of the notion - deeply rooted in everyday language and imagery - that the heart is the home of our emotions and of our true character.

Check it out here.

Wellcome Trust Releases 2000 Years of Medical Images under Creative Commons

Via Boing Boing:

"The Wellcome Trust, one of the UK's largest medical charities, has released its image collection under Creative Commons licenses, with a new web site to search through it."

And what an amazing site it is! Check it out here. The site is quite slow, but well worth the wait-- a veritable treasure trove of amazing imagery. Hooray for the internet. Thanks, Megan, for passing it on!

"Grant's Anatomy: A Macabre Collection"

Medical museums in the news! An article in the paper about the University of Toronto Medical School's "Grant Museum." Check it out here.

Anatomical Flipbook (19th Century?)

Check out the whole wonderful set of flipbook images here. Found on the French Blog "Agence Eureka," via the wonderful blog Modern Mechanix.

Anatomical and Medical Moulage Museums of the World

The Kircher Society is doing a great service with their user-appended list of wax anatomical musuems and medical moulage museums of the world. Check out the list, and add your own entries, here. (Photos from Le Musée Dupuytren, Paris, 2003.)

The Mummies of Vác (18th Century, Hungary)

From the excellent guidebook Weird Europe:

In 1994, workmen renovating a church stumbled upon a 18th-century burial crypt containing over 160 bodies, all naturally mummified in their pretty coffins...The mummies...are dressed as they were at their funerals 200 years ago in woolen socks, bonnets, and ruffled white gowns with flowing ribbons. Their eyes are sunken but otherwise they appear peaceful and newly dead, like a more relaxed version of Pompeii.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to see and photograph (see above) these mummies when they were being exhibited at the Budapest Museum of Natural History.

Funeral Home Ephemera

Fold-up fan found at an antique store in Pennsylvania. Note intriguingly enigmatic text on the reverse side.

G. Austin Gresham, Unsung Grandfather of Second Wave Anatomical Art?

Interesting article in yesterday's Telegraph on the influence of G. Austin Gresham's A Colour Atlas of Forensic Pathologyon contemporary British Art, especially that of Damien Hirst. Read the fascinating article here.

Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846)

The Royal Academy of Arts, London, is hosting an exhibition of the anatomical artwork of Benjamin Robert Haydon, remembered not for his artwork but for his "tragi-comic" diaries, described on the website as "the most entertaining, vainglorious and ultimately tragic document of the Romantic period."

More from the website:

Benjamin Robert Haydon (1786-1846) was the most controversial artist of his day. A self-styled ‘genius’ and the scourge of the Royal Academy, he was determined to revive the flagging fortunes of British history painting. Anatomy was the lynchpin of all Haydon’s art and theory. The Body Politic brings together a selection of his dramatic drawings from the Academy collection, charting his progress from anatomical textbooks to dissections. Haydon prized these studies, using them to teach his pupils and as the basis for his lectures on art.

Find out more about the man here, more about the show here, and view more images of his work here.

Thanks for the tip Eric!