Artistic Influences on Andreas Vesalius’s ‘De humani corporis
fabrica libri septem’ and Its Influence on the Arts in the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries With the current exhibition
at The Queen’s Gallery of Leonardo’s anatomical drawings, I
thought it may be timely to look more closely at the study of
anatomy by Renaissance artists, more specifically the
collaborations between artists and anatomists publishing texts
on the subject, and most specifically, the collaboration between
Andreas Vesalius and artists in Titian’s studio. Vesalius’s De
humani corporis fabrica libri septem of 1543 has been recognised
as an achievement not only of modern medical science, but also
of extraordinary aesthetic value, representing Renaissance
artists’ study and understanding of human anatomy as well as the
perfection of the technical aspects of printing and typography.
William Ivins has gone so far as to suggest that were it not for
its masterful illustrations and superb printing, Veslaius’s work
may be no more memorable t