MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BODY EXPRESSION IN THE MUSCLE MAN FIGURES IN “FABRICA” OF VESALIUS

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  • AKUTSU HIROHIKO
    DEPARTMENT OF ANATOMY AND LIFE STRUCTURE, JUNTENDO UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF MEDICINE
  • SAWAI TADASHI
    DEPARTMENT OF ANATOMY AND LIFE STRUCTURE, JUNTENDO UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF MEDICINE
  • SAKAI TATSUO
    DEPARTMENT OF ANATOMY AND LIFE STRUCTURE, JUNTENDO UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF MEDICINE

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Other Title
  • ヴェサリウス『ファブリカ』の筋肉人図における人体表現の形態学的分析
  • ヴェサリウス 『 ファブリカ 』 ノ キンニクジンズ ニ オケル ジンタイ ヒョウゲン ノ ケイタイガクテキ ブンセキ

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Abstract

Objective : The anatomical figures of muscle men in Vesalius' “Fabrica” (1543) were analyzed to evaluate their morphological accuracy concerning anatomical distortion and the proportion of length and width of the body parts. Materials and Methods : Among the 14 anatomical figures of muscle men in “Fabrica”, we used three figures depicting the most superficial muscles of the anterior, lateral and posterior aspects. The anatomical figures of superficial muscle men in Albinus' “Tabulae” (1747) were used as controls. In the first approach to evaluate the anatomical distortion, we identified the landmarks of the skeleton to reconstruct the constituent bones by removing individual muscles one by one. The obtained figures of reconstructed skeleton of “Fabrica” were superimposed on the figures of muscle men to compare with those of “Tabulae” superimposed. In the second approach to evaluate the proportion of size, we measured the length and width of parts of the trunk, upper limbs and lower limbs, obtained relative values to the body height, and compared them between “Fabrica” and “Tabulae”. Results : The reconstructed skeleton of “Fabrica” appeared to be orthodox, but exhibited several serious distortions including barrel-shaped bony thorax with tapered upper and lower ends and extremely strange shapes of the bony pelvis resulting from contradicting portraits of muscles attaching the pelvis. In the morphometric analysis, the width of muscle men in “Fabrica” was generally larger in any body parts than in “Tabulae”, and were most conspicuously larger in the forearm. The length of individual body parts was variously different between “Fabrica” and “Tabulae” without any tendency of increase or decrease depending on the body parts. Conclusions : The anatomical figures of muscle men in “Fabrica” were thought to be created first by drawing outlines on the basis of observations of living men and then by adding portraits of individual muscles. The muscle men in “Fabrica” became thick because of the thickness of subcutaneous fat contained in living man as well as due to the appeal for stout human figures in the art of the era.

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