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!