Street Anatomy

Seems there is no end to the fun things one can find on this here new-fangled internet thingummy. There's even a site by Vanessa Ruiz dedicated to Medicine+Art+Design. Bliss! And very helpful in deisgning my latest set of tattoos. Aside from her own medical illustrations, her blog has endless work from other people, such as these by Frederik Ruych. The British Library tells us about Ruych (1638-1731):

“He thought of these exhibits as highly educational, but also felt that they should be decorated ‘prettily and naturally…Small skeletons were positioned in ‘geological’ landscapes, crying into handkerchiefs, wearing strings of pearls, or playing the violin. The ‘botanical’ landscapes were also made up of body parts: kidney stones or tissue from the lungs would become bushes, grass or rocks.”

and

“His public dissections would be held by candlelight and accompanied by music and refreshments.”

Oh, and for those of you interested as I am in such things, the US National Library of Medicine has a Dream Anatomy site.