Title
Octava Mvscvlorvm Tabvla
Original Creator
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564, Belgium, Anatomist)
Original Creation Date
1543
Description
This woodcut was one of many famous illustrations contained in Vesalius’s De Corporis Humani Fabrica Libri Septem, which is known to be among the most influential anatomical texts even put to print. The woodcut shows Vesalius’s findings while dissecting a human body, particularly of note the muscles of the face, neck, arms, and legs. The open chest cavity reveals the ribs and vertebrae. As was typical of his anatomical illustrations, Vesalius depicted the body in unique positions reflecting the human condition, in this case having the body lean against a stone wall.
Rights
Courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. This image is in the public domain.