The mysteries of human anatomy have long fascinated the reading public, most notably with the advent of Andreas Vesalius' unprecedentedly accurate illustrations in On the Fabric of the Human Body of 1543. These two pre-modern books arrestingly demonstrate the sensory organs that allowed the body to see, smell, taste, and enjoy a meal, and uncover the internal organs that digest it. Juan Valverde's engravings copy and enlarge upon Vesalius' famous muscle men woodcuts, while putting his own stamp on the imagery. The flayed figure with the skin flap of his own stomach in his teeth is a startling new invention. Similarly appetizing are Jacques Fabien Gautier D'Agoty's luridly colored mezzotints with its lolling tongue and naked eyeballs. They would not have been possible without the D'Agoty family ongoing commitment to the medium of color mezzotint, nor could they have appeared to be so anatomically correct without the observation of actual specimens.

1. Juan Valverde de Amusco, Anotomia del corpo humano (Anatomy of the human body). Venetia: Nicolo Pezzana, 1682. (Ryerson and Burnham Libraries)
2. Jacques Fabien Gautier D'Agoty. Exposition anatomique des organes des sens: avec des planches imprimées en couleurs naturelles, suivant le nouvel art / par M. Dagoty père, anatomiste pensionné du Roi . . . (Anatomical display of the sensory organs . . . with plates printed in natural colors after the new art of the elder Mr. Dagoty, anatomist to the King . . .). Paris: Chez Demonville, 1775. (Prints and Drawings)