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

Abstract

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.

Evolution of illustrations in anatomy: A study from the classical period in Europe to modern times

“…Later on in his career, he even assisted John Bell in preparing the illustrations Anatomy of the Human Body , where Sir Charles prepared the drawings of nerves, the sensory organs and the viscera (Bell and Bell, −1804). Sir Charles was gifted with incredible artistic skills and he saw anatomy and art as closely related subjects, and was of the view that making illustrations would actually discipline a surgeon's hand and the study of anatomy would discipline the artist's eye (Chikwe, ; Berkowitz, ). Sir Charles' depiction of the facial muscles in different emotional expressions of humans (Bell, ) and his significant contributions in the field of neuroanatomy has established him as a legend in anatomical sciences (Ellis, ).…”

Charles Bell’s seeing hand: Teaching anatomy to the senses in Britain, 1750–1840

“…60 Combination, sympathy, and symmetry were important in Bell's ideas about embodied learning. As he said in an 1833 lecture on esophagotomy, 'There are certain sensibilities situated in different parts of the body…that are given for the purpose of drawing into combination or sympathy a variety of muscles, some of which may, perhaps, be placed in distant parts of the body, but the combination of which is necessary to the performance of a certain act'.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2011

“…The question of knowledge about the human body and how to treat its ailments is broached in alternative ways in two articles. Berkowitz considers the connections between artistic displays of human anatomy and surgical pedagogy. He shows that drawing and making anatomical models were thought to be useful tools in disciplining the surgeon's hand, just as the study of anatomy could discipline the artist's eye.…”