Art Embodied: anatomical drawing 3

 This piece is the third in a series of anatomical drawings I am creating for my independent study project, 'Art Embodied'. It is inspired by my last two weeks of study on anatomy and depictions of the human figure during the Renaissance era:

ink, 16.5"x 23.5"

During my study I have been especially struck by the anatomical images themselves. Renaissance-era anatomical images are starkly different from anatomical references today; the figures are placed in contexts ranging from Biblical stories to Classical myths to morbid gallows scenes. The idea of Christian imagery being used as a vehicle to contextualize the human body is especially striking, given the church's resistance to realistic depictions of the physical human body in the centuries prior. Modeling these anatomical images I found so intriguing, I decided to create the figures of Adam and Eve and place them in the context of the original sin.

Many illustrations for anatomy texts during this time were made through etching — an engraving process that could be easily replicated for publication in multiple texts. Without access to full-on engraving equipment, I figured a simple pen and ink drawing would achieve a similar effect with regard to color and line quality.

The figures in the drawing are known as 'Echorche' figures, meaning they have been flayed of their skin to reveal the first layer of superficial muscle. This type of figure was utilized frequently during the Renaissance to teach artists the main muscles and structure of the human form.

My references for this drawing come from two books I have read these past weeks, 'The Ingenious Machine of Nature: Four Centuries of Art and Anatomy,' a text published by the National Gallery of Canada to accompany an anatomical art exhibit held in Ottowa in 1996, and 'Human Anatomy:  A Visual History from the Renaissance to the Digital Age,' by Benjamin Rifkin (2006). These reference images are below: