Anatomy. Exploring the Human Body

Anatomy : Exploring the Human Body is a groundbreaking collection of more than 250 fascinating images that explore humankind's quest to understand all aspects of our bodies, from our internal structures and how our bodies function to our outward appearance and how we interact with the world around us. Drawn from cultures around the world and throughout history, the works reflect varied approaches that see the human body as a complex structure and set of systems that work together to sustain the body's life and health, or as a mere home for the spirit, as the source of our individuality or an impersonal collection of microscopic cells.
Chosen by an international panel of anatomists, historians, curators and academics, the carefully selected images celebrate the ingenuity of our efforts to learn about what goes on beneath the skin, and the crucial role anatomy has played in art, science and culture. The images span thousands of years, from figurines made to venerate ancient gods to illuminated medieval manuscripts, detailed anatomical atlases and cutting-edge diagnostic and microscopic imaging techniques that take viewers "inside" living bodies.
The selection includes works by some of the greatest names in anatomy and art, such as Avicenna, Henry Gray, Gunther von Hagens, Mona Hatoum, Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, Robert Mapplethorpe, Man Ray and Andreas Vesalius. Arranged in a sequence of contrasting and complementary images, Anatomy explores the story of our understanding of the body, how it has shaped our past - and how it may shape our future.
Discover how German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen took the first ever X-ray of his wife's hand, complete with her wedding ring, and compare it to the latest full-body scanning technology. See the uncanny resemblance between the much-loved children's game Operation and a life-sized anatomical flap book used as a teaching aid in the 1880s. Compare the creation of Frankenstein's monster from a collection of body parts to the latest real-life attempts to miniaturize organs on silicon chips.
Anatomy will change the way you see the human body - and the way you see yourself.