Reviews

Anatomica: The Exquisite and Unsettling Art of Human Anatomy by Lucille Clerc, Joanna Ebenstein

soundoftrees's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective

4.5

rebeccaquinton's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring

4.5

shereadsontrains's review against another edition

5.0

Beautiful and sometimes grotesque, excellent guide about the history of anatomic art. Covering all the body parts and different periods of anatomic art, it is interesting for anyone interested in either the human body or drawings.

I received a copy from Edelweis+ all opinions are my own

msand3's review against another edition

5.0

This is quite an astonishing book that provides illustrations, watercolors, woodcuts, and paintings of anatomical images in the centuries before photographic imaging or x-rays. Anatomical students and artists could only rely on viewing actual dissections to get these images, which then had to be drawn in the moment. The detail, color, and sheer thoroughness of the images is incredible, given the constraints of the anatomists and artists (who, in rare cases, were one-in-the-same). The book includes hundreds of full-color images presented in over 250 pages, divided into several sections: full body, systems, individual organs, procreation, upper body, and lower body. The images range from photographic detail to almost expressionist interpretations of human figures postmortem. Most of the art comes from Western sources, but a few images from Eastern medicine are included. A must-read for students of anatomy, the fine arts, or just anyone curious to see how the body was studied, interpreted, and replicated in print before photography or glossy medical textbooks.

tastybourbon's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

5.0

claytell's review against another edition

4.0

A great resource for my personal library of interesting sciency things