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Irish Arts Review
Hippocrates revivedAuthor(s): Muriel McCarthySource: Irish Arts Review (2002-), Vol. 27, No. 3 (AUTUMN (SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2010)),p. 144Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20789413 .
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COLLECTIONS
CURATOR'S CHOICE
Hippocrates revived
Muriel McCarthy selects two related engravings from the current medical
exhibition at Marsh's Library, Dublin
In our current exhibition, Hippocrates
Revived, there are two splendid large
folios. The first, by the Dutch doctor
Govard Bidloo ( 1649-1713), is entitled
Anatomia humani corporis. Published in
Amsterdam in 1685, this superb book
contains 105 illustrations by the famous
artist G?rard de Lairesse ( 1640-1711). The
plates by Lairesse show the human figure
both in living stances and as dissected
corpses. On the page opposite each
illustration there is a brief commentary in
which Bidloo explains the illustration.
Although Lairesse s drawings have been
criticized for anatomical inaccuracies, they
are regarded as artistically splendid and
they illustrate his mastery of the technique
of etching (Fig 2). Govard Bidloo was the son of an
Amsterdam pharmacist. He studied surgery
and became a student of the anatomist
Frederik Ruysch. Afterwards he studied
medicine at the University of Franeker and
achieved his degree in 1682. In 1688 he was appointed lecturer of anatomical dis
section in The Hague and two years later
head of the national hospital service, a
position he also held in England. Bidloo
became a professor of anatomy and medi
cine at the University of Leiden in 1694, a
position he held until his death in 1713.
Gerard de Lairesse was born in Li?ge in
1640 and moved to Amsterdam in 1666. He
was an outstanding painter, draftsman and
engraver. Lairesse received commissions
from wealthy patrons and religious institu
tions. He produced elegant allegorical paint
ings, including one that celebrated the
military victories of William III. The portrait
of Bidloo used as a frontispiece was painted
by Lairesse and engraved by the distin
guished Dutch engraver Abraham Blooteling.
The second book is The anatomy of humane bodies
by the English surgeon and anatomist
William Cowper (1666/7-1710), pub lished in Oxford in 1698. Cowper was the son of Richard Cowper of Petersf?eld,
Hampshire. He became a surgeon and was
admitted a freeman of the Company of
Barber-Surgeons and practised in London.
Elected a member of the Royal Society, he
wrote important medical articles which
were published in the Society's Philosophical Transactions. His first major work, Myotomia
reformata, was published in 1694. Cowper
was a skilful surgeon and anatomist. His
expert designs, drawings and publications
meant that he was held in high regard by his contemporaries.
William Cowper s Anatomy of humane bodies
contains most of the plates used by
Govard Bidloo in his Anatomia humani cor
poris. Cowper published the plates as his own with a new, more detailed, text and
included an appendix with nine extra
plates (Fig 1 ) drawn by Henry Cook
(1642-1725) and engraved by Michiel van der Gucht (1660-1725).This led to a
bitter dispute in which Bidloo attacked
Cowper, complaining to the Royal Society that his plates had been used without per
mission and accusing Cowper of plagia
rism. Cowper maintained, without much
evidence, that the plates had been com
missioned by the eminent Dutch scientist
Jan Swammerdam and that Bidloo had
only acquired them from Swammerdam s
widow. The Royal Society refused to adju dicate in the dispute although they did
question Cowper on the fact that his name
is pasted over Bidloo's on the engraved
title-page. Cowper replied, somewhat
disingenuously, that the title-page had
been ordered by the bookseller, not by himself. The dispute between Bidloo and
Cowper over Cowper's plagiarism is one
of the most famous in medical history.
'Hippocrates Revived' continues at Marsh's Library, Dublin, until 2011.
Muriel McCarthy is Keeper of Marsh's Library, Dublin.
U
U
ALTHOUGH LAIRESSE'S DRAWINGS HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED FOR ANATOMICAL INACCURACIES, THEY ARE REGARDED AS ARTISTICALLY SPLENDID
1 Plate showing the musculature of the back. From Cowper. Anatomy of humane bodies, 1698.
2 Illustration showing the muscles and tendons of the extensor surface of the hand. From Bidloo, Anatomia humant corporis, 1685
U4 IRISH ARTS REVIEW I AUTUMN 2010
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