Anatomy: The Foundation of Medicine
Anatomy: The Foundation of Medicine and a Collection of Anatomical Charts at the University of Virginia
Starting with Aristotle and continuing with such greats as Hippocrates, Galen, Leonardo da Vinci, Vesalius, and Albinus, this online exhibit briefly traces the history of anatomical study and drawing. The essay relates the importance of numerous technical and artistic advancements as well as a cultural climate favorable to human dissection. The exhibit culminates in images from three different series of wall charts which are housed in the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library at the University of Virginia.
- W. & A. K. Johnston’s Charts of Anatomy and Physiology is by Dr. William Turner. His tablet of eight wall charts, generously donated to the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library (CMHSL) by William Crutchfield, would have been displayed in an anatomy laboratory or classroom to help medical students in their studies.
- A chart in a second set is number four in a series of five called Our Bodies by Drs. Charles K. Mills and A.H.P. Leuf. Used in primary and secondary schools, it was given to the CMHSL by the University of Virginia Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library.
- A third set, the Denoyer-Geppert Anatomy Series, was actually used in the anatomy laboratory at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. It consists of seven charts, out of a series of probably ten, which are credited to editor Dr. Otto F. Kampmeier and artist Pauline M. Lariviere who painted the original artwork.
These charts are now presented for the perusal of the twenty-first century viewer.