The Quick and the Dead: Artists and Anatomy

by Deanna Petherbridge, Ludmilla Jordanova

The human body has long been central to Western art, and in order to represent the body in all its manifestations many artists have studied dissecting the dead to better depict the living. The Quick and the Dead focuses on a range of artists, among them Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Albrecht Dürer, William Hogarth, George Stubbs, Théodore Géricault, Kiki Smith, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Cindy Sherman to show the great richness and complexity that can result when art and science intersect. The drawings, prints, photographs, and objects in this book span five centuries and mark numerous cultural shifts, yet their imagery is as powerful today as when it was created.

Bodily representation has shadowed Western art since the High Renaissance, particularly in the form of atlases of anatomical prints, detailed drawings, and wax cadavers used for teaching purposes. Studying anatomy was deemed so essential that it was part of the instruction program in the earliest Italian academies. Now contemporary artists interested in cultural constuctions of the body are reinvigorating the subject, with the fragmentation of human form being a prime concern.

Since 1858, Gray's Anatomy has served to legitimize notions of "serious" science unchallenged by the frivolity of art. But in recent years a kind of rapprochement between medical history and cultural theory has occurred, and new medical technologies have become a wellspring for artists as well as for doctors. As The Quick and the Dead makes clear, the human body—symbolic and intimate, material and sacred—is a vital cultural resource and a site where various social constituencies find relevant meaning.

Genres: Art History, Art

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 1998

Reviews

[Jacqueline Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting look at the history of anatomical art. The topic is something that many medical practitioners fail to think about, but the role of art in the study of medicine is profound. I find it interesting that something that is so frequently presented before the student is in many ways never seen at all. The role of the student is learning to structures of the body and with that focus, we usually over look the amazing art that is sitting before us. I found the discussion within this book interesting and appreciate the idea that anatomical art is an art in it's own right and deserves to be looked upon without the expectation of learning anatomy. The works that have been collected with in the book is a wonderful representation of the historical progression of the art. I enjoyed the book immensely and read it in one sitting. The only down side to the book is that it is written with a heavily scholarly tone with numerous references to other works cited within the text. It can be cumbersome to read at times because of this. A more casual tone would have improved the book. While the book is discussing the need for viewing anatomical art out of the scholarly context, it is written within that context. I found it a bit clashing in that regard. Overall, worth reading!