By Lorraine Jones
Spectacular bodies: the art and science of the human body from Leonardo to now. Hayward Gallery, London. October 19, 2000, to January 14, 2001. Admission £8, concessions £5.50, Hayward members free. Tel 020 7960 4242 (www.hayward-gallery.org.uk).
The workings and complexities of the human body have interested both anatomists
and artists for centuries. “Spectacular bodies: the art and science of
the human body from Leonardo to now” at the Hayward Gallery on London’s
South Bank is a fascinating, innovative exhibition on this theme, illustrating
the point at which medicine and art collide. Exhibits spanning five centuries
from the worlds of art and science are brought together for the exhibition.
They include paintings and drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Durer and
Stubbs, and work by eight contemporary artists. Works of art are shown alongside
historical medical books and instruments, and medical anatomical models.
The exhibition is divided into two sections. The first focuses on the human
body as an astounding feat of engineering. Human dissection is a strong theme,
with works ranging from striking portraits of 17th and 18th century Dutch surgeons
to John Isaac’s new video installation of the 16th century public anatomy
theatre in Padua. Lifelike 18th century anatomical wax models and écorchés
(sculptures of bodies revealing muscle structure) reflect the importance of
three dimensional models for the study of human anatomy in the 18th and 19th
centuries. The beginnings of life are explored in extraordinary illustrations
from medical books, and anatomical models of pregnant women.
The second section of the exhibition covers the study of the human face as the
key to understanding people’s mood, temperament and character. It includes
a broad range of material, from new works to 19th century head casts and facial
photographic studies of the “criminal and insane”. The Railway Station,
depicting various facial “types”, by the artist William Frith (1819-1909)
provides a pharmaceutical link here; the artist was a good friend of Jacob Bell,
the founder of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Lorraine Jones is assistant curator of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s museum, based at Lambeth