Encyclopaedia Anatomica (Klotz)

"TASCHEN's excellent series continues with a mesmerizing and horrifying addition to their chunky A5-sized collection. From medieval times onward the art of the waxworker has been a poor relative to practitioners in the `elevated' sculptural media of stone and bronze, never afforded the respect that the considerable craft required to successfully work it deserves. But, as Georges Didi-Huberman observes in one of the several introductions to this collection of full-colour photographs, wax is the material of all resemblances, and its virtues are so remarkable that it was often attributed with magical properties. Encyclopaedia Anatomica makes this immediately apparent with around 1500 studies of the human body from the Museo La Specola in Florence, the cream of 16th and 17th century wax-artists working when medicine was starting to take a serious interest in the mechanisms of the body.

Everything from the brain to the metatarsals, the viscera to the voicebox, is depicted, often with such astonishing accuracy and clarity (or as far as I can tell, not having a pass to the Royal College of Surgeons) that you might think you are looking at real dissections. The full-figure studies of flayed men reclining - as if in some tortural ecstasy - on silk cushions, or the advanced representation of a young woman with her removable skin and organs, are especially hypnotic. (I still can't look at some of the pictures without wincing and flicking the page. The final section on reproduction is a particular challenge.) It is one of the central mysteries why when we look at the insides of our own bodies we confront horror and beauty in such close proximity.

Taschen are to be recognised for bringing such an important collection to a wider audience. If a criticism can be leveled it's the lack of size for such detailed images. There's a fair amount of white border on each page and, even taking into account the A5 size of the book, the images could have been ten, maybe even twenty percent larger. On the whole, though, this is a definite must if you have any interest at all in anatomy or curious museums and collections."
~ Written on 2007-12-06

"This is the perfect book for anyone interested in human anatomy.
I'm a medicine student and I use this book as atlas of human anatomy. In it you can find highly detailed photos of the entire collection of wax models from Museo La Specola in Florence. Perfect anatomical reproductions of 18th century like the famous Venere Medicea that can be taken apart to see inside her body from muscles of thoracic and abdominal walls to uterus with fetus. It includes also explanations about artists involved and techniques used. A highly recommended book to look inside human body."
~ Written on 2003-05-28