In centuries past, sexual body-parts and same-sex desire were
unmentionables debarred from polite conversation and
printed discourse. Yet one scientific
discipline—anatomy—had license to represent and
narrate the intimate details of the human body—anus and
genitals included. Figured within the frame of an anatomical
plate, presentations of dissected bodies and body-parts
were often soberly technical. But just as often monstrous,
provocative, flirtatious, theatrical, beautiful, and even
sensual. Queer Anatomies explores overlooked examples of erotic
expression within 18th and 19th-century anatomical imagery. It
uncovers the subtle eroticism of certain anatomical illustrations,
and the queerness of the men who made, used and collected them. As
a foundational subject for physicians, surgeons and artists in
18th- and 19th-century Europe, anatomy was a privileged,
male-dominated domain. Artistic and medical competence depended
on a deep knowledge of anatomy and offered cultural legitimacy,
healing authority, and aesthetic discernment to those who practiced
it. The anatomical image could serve as a virtual queer space, a
private or shared closet, or a men’s club. Serious anatomical
subjects were charged with erotic, often homoerotic, undertones.
Taking brilliant works by Gautier Dagoty, William Cheselden, and
Joseph Maclise, and many others, Queer Anatomies assembles a lost
archive of queer expression—115 illustrations, in full-colour
reproduction—that range from images of nudes, dissected bodies,
penises, vaginas, rectums, hands, faces, and skin, to scenes of
male viewers gazing upon works of art governed by anatomical
principles. Yet the men who produced and savored illustrated
anatomies were reticent, closeted. Diving into these textual and
representational spaces via essayistic reflection, Queer
Anatomies decodes their words and images, even their silences. With
a range of close readings and comparison of key images, this
book unearths the connections between medical history,
connoisseurship, queer studies, and art history and the
understudied relationship between anatomy and desire.
General
Imprint: |
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
April 2024 |
Authors: |
Michael Sappol
|
Dimensions: |
234 x 156mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
272 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-350-40086-3 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-350-40086-6 |
Barcode: |
9781350400863 |
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