Medical anatomical illustration - the history of the study of the human body in the atlases of 5 centuries. Part 3

We continue a series of posts about anatomical illustration. The last time they talked about the XVII and XVIII centuries , and a little earlier about the end of the Renaissance and Andreas Vesalius . This issue will feature the first atlas of pathologies, the most popular and reprinted anatomical textbook of Gray in the world, as well as the person who subsequently formed an anatomical illustration into a separate profession.
In the 20th century, the world of biomedical illustration became a peculiar, but an integral part of the scientific and educational community. On the other hand, this peculiarity led to the appearance of rather ambiguous figures among anatomists and illustrators.

XIX century: Atlases of pathologies and Gray's anatomy

The development of anatomical illustration in the XIX century is associated not only with the achievements of medicine, but also with significant progress in publishing. Atlases, manuals, and textbooks are printed everywhere, and anatomists, physiologists, and medical illustrators stop concentrating in Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Britain. At the beginning of the century, the lithography method was actively being introduced, which significantly simplified the publication of illustrated books. Lithograph does not require the work of a specialist engraver, and also makes it much easier to obtain a halftone image. All this made it possible to create picture books, which became a bit cheaper than the cast-iron bridge.
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From the atlases of the first half of this century, we can distinguish the work of the anatomist Jean-Baptiste Sarlandera , which were made in collaboration with the artist J. Bisby. Their atlas was called “Systematized Anatomy or Human Organography” and was published in New York in 1837.







Illustrations from Systematized Anatomy or Human Organography ( source ).

Another detailed and well illustrated atlas was published several years later and was called “ Atlas d'anatomie descriptive du corps humain ”. Constantine Louis Bonami, Paul Broca and Emile Beau worked on it.





Illustrations from Atlas d'anatomie descriptive du corps humain ( source ).

In the first half of the XIX century, atlases on pathological anatomy are also published. A striking example is the book “Pathological Anatomy of Disease”, written by the Scottish professor Sir Robert Carswell in 1837.



Illustrations from the Pathological Anatomy Forms of Disease ( source ).

But perhaps the most notable event in the history of the world medical illustration of the XIX century was the publication of the textbook " Gray 's Anatomy: descriptive and surgical theory ." This happened in 1858 in the UK. The co-authors of the book and illustrations were the anatomists Henry Gray and Henry Vindike Carter . Henry Gray died of smallpox three years later, at the age of 34, but his atlas has survived in many publications in the UK and the USA, and currently continues to appear in the form of mobile applications. Some publications are freely available on the Internet .







Illustrations from Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, 1918 edition. It must be said that, despite the popularity of the manuals of Henry Gray, the illustrations in them are not the most interesting.

However, in the story about the benefits of the XIX century it is impossible to pass by Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov, the brightest Russian surgeon, scientist and teacher. For educational and scientific purposes, he made cuts of frozen human corpses , as well as layered cuts, which made it possible to see this or that whole organ surrounded by other frozen tissues. Pirogov's “Ice Anatomy” became one of the interesting, original, and powerful methods of studying the human body, which was later addressed. Although the work of Pirogov and his colleagues took place in difficult conditions and very cold rooms. On the basis of ice sections, an atlas was created, which is called “Illustrated topographic anatomy of cuts made in three directions through a frozen human body”. His German edition of 1855 is freely available . You can download and Russian-language edition .



One of the illustrations from the atlas of Pirogov.

Other less famous atlases and medical illustrations of the 19th century can be viewed at these links:
Topographisch-anatomischer Atlas. Nach durchschnitten an gefrornen Cadavern herausgegeben (1875)
Prints Old & Rare

It is also to say that in the XIX century a photograph was invented, which, it would seem, should have solved all the problems with realistic images, including anatomical preparations. However, after its appearance, medical illustration not only did not disappear, but, on the contrary, began to develop more actively. This is primarily due to the fact that the artist can create a much more comprehensible scheme or illustration in which he will place accents in the right way, paying attention to the main parts and muffling insignificant ones. We will speak about photographic atlases below - they are not complete without hand-drawn illustrations.

XX century: the profession of medical illustrator and controversial Germans

Talk about the XX century must begin with the mention of Max Braudel . Braudel is a medical illustrator who emigrated from his native Germany to the United States and was accepted in 1890 to Johns Hopkins Medical School . In his works, he used the technique of “ drawing coal powder ”, which turned out to be very realistic, allowing you to accurately transmit half tones. However, drawing in such a technique implies replication with modern methods, for example, using offset printing. Drawing with carbon powder transferred the details better than the photo and provided greater tonal latitude. Braudel is also famous for having organized the world's first department of medical illustration at the same Johns Hopkins University.







Illustrations by Max Braudel ( source )

Many anatomical atlases of the beginning of the 20th century were notable for amazing detailing and accuracy. Here are some examples:

“ An atlas of human anatomy for students and physicians ”
“ Hand atlas of human anatomy ”
“ A laboratory manual of human anatomy ”

In the 20th century, medical illustration finally took shape as an independent profession. We have already mentioned the Medical Illustrators Association , which was founded in 1946. It is also worth noting that there are specialized institutions where this profession is taught. One of them, located in London, is called the Institute of Medical Illustrators . It was founded in 1968.

In the last century, many atlases were published. Examples can be found at this link .

We will tell about some names in more detail. One of the most famous anatomical atlases of the 20th century was created by a group of illustrators under the guidance of Edward Pernkopf, a professor of anatomy from the University of Vienna. Work began in 1933 and took four years. The illustrators were Erich Lepir, Ludwig Schrott, Karl The Endresser and Franz Batke. Atlas Pernkopfa impressed with accuracy, accuracy and detail of images. However, subsequently, a very controversial attitude was created in society towards the creators of the atlas and the process of working on it. First, during the Second World War, all the artists who worked on the atlas actively supported the Nazis and were members of the Nazi Party. Batke was even injured on the Eastern Front and was awarded an iron cross. Schrott and the Endtresser also served in the army, only Lepir avoided this for health reasons. But a more serious reproach to the authors was the fact that, according to some information, the bodies of the victims of Nazi concentration camps could be used as models for sketching during the work on the atlas.



Illustration from Pernkopf's Atlas.

It is not so odious, but also a very prominent figure in the medical illustration of the XX century was an American surgeon and artist Frank Netter . In early youth, Netter was fascinated by drawing and, while still in high school, he did illustrations for newspapers and magazines, but his parents insisted that the young man start a career in medicine. Netter had to combine two professions during the Great Depression in the United States, when medical practice turned out to be of little demand and low-profit business. Subsequently, Netter collaborated with the most famous and large publishing houses and created about 4000 anatomical illustrations.



Netter illustrations ( source ).

The most used Soviet atlas in the XX century was the atlas edited by RD and Ya.R. Sinelnikov (his first edition was written in collaboration with VP Vorobiev ). According to him, students of medical and biological specialties are still studying. Anatoly Alekseev became an illustrator of later editions of atlases, information about which we managed to find for some reason only on the website of the organization of Seventh Day Adventists.





Illustrations from the Atlas of the Sinelnikovs.

Another figure that is definitely worth mentioning is Gunther von Hagens . His work is a cross between the manufacture of bulk anatomical aids, embalming and provocative art. Von Hagens is famous for having invented the technique of plastination — impregnating biological tissues with a hardening polymer to preserve them in the form as close as possible to the native. This makes it possible to make stable and durable models from partially prepared human bodies and their parts. Of these, von Hagens makes a kind of sculptural groups, the expositions of which often cause a violent public reaction.



Photo of one of the works of von Hagens (taken from here )

Of course, with the spread of color photography, anatomical atlases began to appear, in which instead of drawings were photographs. One of the most famous is called “ Color Atlas Of Anatomy: A Photographic Study Of The Human Body ”. Such atlases give a realistic picture, but the diagram can depict the average structure of an organ, while each human body is individual, which may be fraught with atypical features in photographs of one or another part of the body.

Based on photographs of body sections, a complete and highly accurate model of the human body can be assembled. After a century and a half after the icy anatomy of Pirogov, this was done as part of the project “ The Visible Human Project ”. Two people, one of whom was a Texas prisoner sentenced to death , and the other a middle-aged housewife who remained unknown. Their bodies were frozen in a mixture of water and gelatin. On the basis of the preparations, cross-sections were made with an interval of 1 mm, which were then photographed. Photos were used to create complete models of male and female human bodies. However, they also could not give an ideal idea of ​​human anatomy, since the structure of the organs of individual people may differ somewhat from the norm and may not have the most characteristic parameters.

This concludes the XX century, and we have the last series in which we will talk about the current state of anatomical illustration, mobile applications for anatomy, three-dimensional modeling, and also share thoughts and comments of famous modern scientific illustrators.

Other posts in the series:
Part one
Part two
Conclusion