Whiteley, RK;
(2017)
The Limits of Seeing and Knowing: Early Modern Anatomy and the Uterine Membranes.
Object
, 19
pp. 95-119.
10.14324/111.2396-9008.026.
Preview |
Text
Rebecca.pdf Download (6MB) | Preview |
Abstract
This article addresses the trend, in early modern anatomical and midwifery books, of depicting the fetus within the uterine membranes. It asks why such images were made, what knowledge they conveyed, and how they were interpreted by makers and viewers. Examining various early modern examples, beginning with a 'fetus-in-membranes' image made for Hieronymus Fabricius in 1600 and ending with those made for William Hunter in 1774, this article argues that making images of the uterine membranes allowed both anatomists and artists to think through the skills and also the limits of their professions. For anatomists, the 'fetus-in-membranes' image spoke of the troubling opacity of the closed body, and the problems and limits associated with opening and looking. Moreover, the translucency and fragility of the membranes offered a challenge to the skills of the draftsman and engraver, and provided a space to think through the acts and implications of image-making.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Limits of Seeing and Knowing: Early Modern Anatomy and the Uterine Membranes |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.14324/111.2396-9008.026 |
| Publisher version: | HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.14324/111.2396-9008.026 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2017, The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords: | pregnancy, print culture, anatomy, midwifery, visual culture, early modern |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of History of Art |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10032972 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
