Secunda musculorum tabula
€150
- Cartographer
- Thomas Geminus (attributed), after Andreas Vesalius
- Date
- ca. 1550 (attributed)
- Subject
- Human anatomy
- Folio / plate
- II
- Dimensions
- 36 × 22 cm sheet
- Condition
- Good condition. Lower white margin enlarged; a few light, small spots.
About this piece
Secunda musculorum tabula is the second muscle figure in an engraved series after Andreas Vesalius’s De humani corporis fabrica of 1543. This copper engraving is attributed to Thomas Geminus and catalogued circa 1550. Geminus published copper-engraved versions of Vesalius’s anatomical woodcuts in London in 1545, bringing the figures into a different print medium.
The standing figure is shown in profile, with one arm raised. That pose opens a view of the shoulder and torso and carries the eye down the side of the body into the leg. The small letters scattered through the engraving link particular areas to the anatomical text. Up close, they turn a single figure into a succession of places to examine.
The paper measures 36 × 22 cm. The lower margin has been extended, and the sheet has a few faint spots.
Condition: Good condition. Lower white margin enlarged; a few light, small spots.