An oddly macabre early medical illustration of dismembered heads from an eighteenth century Scottish anatomy. Image measures 6 1/2 x 8 7/8 inches, with margins the sheet is approx. 8 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches, with binding stitch marks along the bottom edge, signed and dated in the plate and embellished with the artist’s name. Fine condition, rare item. Encouraged by an artistic mother, John Bell had received early training in drawing. He was one of the first to apply anatomical teachings to surgery. Bell’s atlas of the bones, muscles, and joints, illustrated mostly with his own engravings and etchings after his own paintings, represented a new, more realistic and less idealized style of anatomical illustration. Bell’s illustrations are some of the most striking in the entire literature, although not to everyone’s taste: Certainly they have the immediacy of drawings made in the dissecting rooms of late Georgian Edinburgh. Some are quite gruesome and even perverted… In their context they are admirable… Roberts & Tomlinson, p. Heirs of Hippocrates 1187; Russell, British Anatomy 60; Wellcome II, p. This item is in the category “Art\Art Prints”. The seller is “thecongeries” and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Artist: John Bell
- Unit of Sale: Single Piece
- Signed: Yes
- Date of Creation: Pre-1800
- Material: Copper Plate, Ink, Paper
- Original/Licensed Reprint: Limited Edition Print
- Region of Origin: Scotland
- Subject: Medical
- Type: Print
- Year of Production: 1794
- Style: Illustration Art
- Theme: Macabre, Natural History, Science & Medicine
- Original/Reproduction: Original
- Features: Signed, 1st Edition
- Production Technique: Copper Engraving
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
- Time Period Produced: 1750-1799