The Beauty of Anatomy: Visual Displays and Surgical Education in Early-Nineteenth-Century London

• Published in: Bulletin of the history of medicine Vol. 85; no. 2; pp. 248 - 278
• Main Author: BERKOWITZ, CARIN
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Baltimore, MD The Johns Hopkins University Press 01.07.2011; Johns Hopkins University Press
• Subjects: 19th century; Aesthetic simplicity; Anatomical systems; Anatomy; Anatomy & physiology; Anatomy - education; Anatomy - history; Anatomy, Artistic - history; Art education; Beauty; Bell Charles; Bells; Biology; Display devices; Engraving; Eyes; General Surgery - education; General Surgery - history; Health education; History of medicine; History of science and technology; History, 19th Century; Humans; Illustration; Life sciences; London; Medical Illustration - history; Models, Anatomic; Surgeons; Surgery; Teachers; Century 19; England; London; United Kingdom > UK; Pedagogy; Anatomic broadsheet; Charles Bell; visual displays; Medical education; Anatomy; Bell (C.)
• ISSN: 0007-5140; 1086-3176; 1086-3176; 1896-3176
• DOI: 10.1353/bhm.2011.0030

The early-nineteenth-century artist, anatomist, and teacher Sir Charles Bell saw anatomy and art as closely related subjects. He taught anatomy to artists and surgeons, illustrated his own anatomical texts, and wrote a treatise on the use of anatomy in art. The author explores the connections among visual displays representing human anatomy, aesthetics, and pedagogical practices for Bell and a particular group of British surgeon-anatomists. Creating anatomical models and drawings was thought to discipline the surgeon's hand, while the study of anatomy and comparative anatomy would discipline the artist's eye. And for Bell, beauty made drawings into better pedagogical tools.