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The Problem with Bodies

Bodies--they have always been something of a problem. Even when in good working order, the body can be cumbersome, messy, demanding, and unpredictable. It runs down; it gets ill; it needs constant attention. Eventually, the body dies, but these adventures are far from over. Where do you put a dead body? Burial arose in part to combat the spread of disease, but death rituals vary with climate and geography. You can't bury your dead in the frozen ground of Tibet, nor can you build a pyre where no trees grow for use as fuel. How we deal with bodies...

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The Elusive Past of Ivory Anatomical Models

Welcome back to the Dittrick Museum Blog! Today, we are pleased to host guest-blogger Cali Buckley, Ph.D. Candidate in Art History, Pennsylvania State University. Cali has been doing some fascinating research on ivory anatomical models, three of which reside in the Dittrick Collection. Delicate, finely carved, and impossibly detailed, these ivory anatomical models are both fascinating and mysterious. Today, Cali will be talking to us about their curious and often uncertain past. We hope you will join us at the Dittrick Museum's history of birth exhibit, and take a closer look for yourself! The Elusive Past of Ivory Anatomical Models Cali Buckley,...

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Anatomy Artists: William Smellie, William Hunter, and the work of Jan van Rymsdyk

As noted by Ludmilla Jordanova and Deanna Petherbridge in The Quick and the Dead: Artists and Anatomy, artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci made enormous contributions to the emerging sciences of the body. The study of anatomy was, in fact, obligatory for many schools of art--and artists like Allessandro Allori composed anatomy textbooks for physicians.The close approximation of art and anatomy meant that the artists needed both “perceptual drawing skills” and “a strong stomach,” but just as the artist might be sometimes an anatomist, the anatomist or physician might sometimes be an artist. In this post, we will...

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