Anatomia humani corporis, planches 12, 30, 33, 52, 70, Amsterdam, 1685
engravings
 

BIU Santé, Paris

Known as the “Poussin of the north”, painter and etcher Gérard de Lairesse is also famous for his one hundred or so illustrations of the anatomy treatise by Govart Bidloo, Anatomia humani corporis, published in Amsterdam in 1685. Lairesse brought an unprecedented level of realism to his anatomical representations – his fine draughtsmanship faithfully conveying the texture of organs, their smoothness or roughness, their opacity or transparency. Far from idealising his subjects, Lairesse represented the bodies in his illustrations just as they appeared during the dissection process, complete with their shrouds, the threads and pins used to expose the flesh and even the flies feeding off the corpses – all elements which imbue the plates with a powerful sense of drama.