Posterior View of Muscle Man, plate nine from Myologie complete
Medium
Color mezzotint, aquatint, and engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 54.8 × 40 cm (21 5/8 × 15 3/4 in.); Sheet: 61 × 45 cm (24 1/16 × 17 3/4 in.)
Classification
mezzotint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
149518
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jacques Gautier D’Agoty’s second son, Arnauld Éloi, advertised his relationship to the invention of printing in “natural colors” on the title page of his Complete Anatomy Course. This plate is the third of four views from that publication, which sequentially excavates the layers of a man’s front and back muscles. The book includes only one view of female anatomy (including the skin layer), and the text suggests that, as the subordinate gender, women were simply rounder versions of men. A brief d...