Anatomy Acts: A Scottish Journey Through the Body

Fusing history, imagination and the senses, “Anatomy Acts” explores the social, cultural and scientific significance of anatomy in Scotland over the past 500 years. How have we come to know ourselves through anatomical study? How has anatomy changed over the centuries and where is it heading? What contribution has Scotland made to the ‘culture of anatomy’? How have the arts responded to the work of anatomists and surgeons? The range of “Anatomy Acts” is wide, setting the high points of Renaissance, Enlightenment and 19th-century enquiry alongside the latest medical imaging techniques and the work of contemporary artists and poets. Its publication coincides with a touring exhibition of the same name that opens in Edinburgh in May 2006. The exhibition draws entirely on Scotland’s rare and historic medical and fine art collections. There is no comparable visual history of anatomical material from Scotland on the market. This publication gives a new focus, building on the more general overviews of the relationship between art and anatomy that have appeared in recent years.Essays have been commissioned from leading authorities across medicine and culture, selected for their authors’ specialist knowledge of Scottish medical and visual history, as well as their original and provocative perspectives on this subject. This publication will be of interest to a wide public, including professionals and students in medical, cultural and historical areas, as well as gallery and museum visitors.