Anatomy for Artists: Vesalius’ Fabrica and Epitome as an Aid for Sculptures of the Cristo Yacente in Early Modern Spain

The University of Valladolid was the first Castilian institution to teach anatomy through human dissection. In 1551, Bernardino Montaña de Monserrate published El Libro de la anatomia del hombre in Valladolid, Spain, the earliest Spanish book on anatomy. By the time of its publication, its theories were outdated, but the illustrated plates copied images from Vesalius’ influential De humani corporis fabrica and Epitome 1543. Juan Valverde de Amusco and Juan de Arfe y Villafañe also published their respective books based on Vesalius: Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano 1556, Rome and De varia conmensuracion para la escultura y la arquitectura 1585, Seville. The anatomical accuracy of the seventeenth-century Cristos yacentes by Gregorio Fernández and others relied on these Spanish anatomical treatises and the Epitome’s paper manikin. These publications promoted accurate renderings of the dead body that would later be resurrected. The Catholic belief in the resurrection of the flesh ties directly to its anatomical representation. The focus on Christ’s physical suffering connects to the Eucharistic meaning of the work and Counter-Reformation devotional practices. Artists used scientific anatomical representation in service of the Church to produce a work that used verisimilitude and hyperreality to engage the viewer.