Anatomy and Art

a blog by Sara Egner

The Anatomy Lesson

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I guess it was a couple of weeks ago I found myself looking at this picture, and rather than remarking at the beautiful sense of lighting and form, and all of that warmth that Rembrandt is so deservedly known for, all I could think about was my goodness, can you imagine being dressed like that for a class dissection?!?  Don’t get me wrong, it is a beautiful painting, and a fine example of chiaroscuro.  I also love that he actually bothered to paint specific identifiable anatomy within this portrait of anatomy students.  But just, man, we generally wore scrubs in the anatomy lab, sometimes a lab coat.  But look at them! Dark, heavy, absorbent looking fabrics, and white crisp cuffs!  The 1600s were different times indeed.

And yes, having said all that, Rembrandt really was one of the greats.  This scene, a bunch of overdressed guys standing over a cadaver, would never have had nearly the warmth or softness in the hands of any other artist.

Written by Sara

April 6th, 2011 at 11:31 pm

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