The plates of muscles do not appear until the fourth book, and demonstrate a progressive anatomy moving from the head down the torso and toward the feet, as opposed to the standard approach of superficial to deep structures. While the first two plates depict the
59The exceptions to this are the Adam and Eve figures from A. Vesalius,suorum de humani corporis
fabrica librorum Epitome, Basel 1543. [BL, Rare Books, C.18.e.4]
60
Both of the first plates are signed by Valesius in the 1627 and 1645 editions. The first plate reads “Franco Valesio” and the second reads “F. Valesio”, both in the lower left corner of the print. A. Spieghel,De humani corporis fabrica libri decem, Venice (Evangelistam Deuchinum) 1627. [BL, Rare Books, 544.l.10]
anatomy of the head and neck, the third seems to be curiously out of sequence, showing the muscles of the back and upper arm in various layers[Fig. 4.6]. The figure half kneels on a rocky outcrop in the foreground, a device that Fialetti utilises in a number of these prints to show particular muscles in contraction, which would not have been possible in the more traditional representations. In addition to this posture, the seated figure upon a plinth is also used to vary the visual repertoire and better demonstrate the physiology depicted[Fig. 4.7]. One of the most unique plates is Tab. VIII, in which a man turns, his left knee on the plinth, and his torso turning in the opposite direction [Fig. 4.8]. In this way, he holds his own skin, flayed from his chest, as a cloak, its lower edges ragged, as if it’s been ripped from his body. The face is partially hidden from the viewer by the raised arm. The landscape is not particularly complex in this instance to better focus attention on the draped skin as hanging from the arm of the écorché. The triangular movement in the skin echoes the form of the serrater muscles of the ribcage, and the long folds draw the eye down the length of the body. This is one of the more classically inspired figures, and recalls the figure of Marsyas, who was flayed by Apollo after challenging the God to a music competition.
Fialetti’s equation of his écorchés with figures from the classical past attests to his knowledge of mythology, as well as demonstrating his debt to earlier Venetian masters – most notably Titian and Palma il Giovane, who painted the figure in similar guises in the
Flaying of Marsyas and Apollo and Marsyas respectively.61 Subsequent figures, notably Tab. IX, who wears his skin like a cloak across his chest, and Tab. XII and Tab. XIV, all
61
J. Neumann,Titian: The Flaying of Marsyas, London 1962. Palma il Giovane,Apollo and Marsyas, Oil on canvas, 134x195cm. Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig.
of Lib. IV, who hold their own skin open and gesture to their own anatomy. This idea recalls the earlier concepts set out by the illustrated anatomy of Berengario da Carpi, in
his 1523 Isagogae breves per lucidae ac uberrimae in Anatomiam human corporis,
where the figures, holding out their skin and creating a star shape with their stance and gesture, radiate knowledge.62The anatomy as shown here is incredibly naturalistic for the period, but the figures are anything but realistic. In this context it becomes extremely important to differentiate between naturalism and realism in the context of anatomical illustration: these figures are in fact flayed cadavers, and are far removed from the reality of the anatomy theatre. The écorché holds his own skin open, acting both as a model and demonstrator, thus removing the need for an anatomist, and paralleling one of the advantages, and perhaps one of the purposes, of the book.
As with his other printed works and his painted oeuvre, Fialetti tries to act as an exponent of good disegno (or rather his disegno and visual repertoire). Many of the landscapes feature towns, lakes and hilly outcrops which recall both the 1610 Landscapes book, as well as the 1624 and 1630 editions of Tensini’s La Fortificatione Guardia Difesa. Tab. XVI[Fig. 4.9]looks to be an amalgam of landscape ideas by Fialetti, including a lake to the right, and figures boating in the lower left background near a hill topped with an unusually styled church. Unlike Vesalius, the landscapes do not form a continuous narrative and do not appear to serve any iconographic function, and are there purely to
62B. da Carpi,Isagogae breves per lucidae ac uberrimae in Anatomiam human corporis, Bologna 1523.
Also utilising this particular posture was Eustachius, in hisTabulae Anatomicae Clarissimi Viriof 1564. This book, however, cannot be cited as influential as the plates were never published during the
Cinquecento, and were rediscovered in the Vatican Library by the Pope’s physician and later published in 1714. B. Eustachii,Tabulae Anatomicae Clarissimi Viri, Venetiis 1769. [BNM, 168.D.4]
add depth and visual interest.63The landscapes, detail and beauty of the prints themselves may also suggest that the works could be used and appreciated by artists (in particular the plates of surface anatomy and muscles).64 It is not only the landscapes which recall the rest of Fialetti’s oeuvre: the facial features and physiognomy of some of the figures, for
example the heads of Tab. II, Lib. X [Fig. 4.10] appear to be intended to remind the
viewer of the patron in the SS. Giovanni e Paolo painting of The miraculous payment of the boatmenof c. 1606, as well as the bearded man in the plates of heads ofIl vero modo.
The recurrence of the bearded man Tab II. Lib. X, raises an interesting question: if in the SS. Giovanni e Paolo painting his identification as patron or prior65 is correct, then one must ask why Fialetti has utilised his likeness in this context. Two potential readings seem plausible: the first is a positive association with this man as patron for many of Fialetti’s works. A second reading is less positive: while he is used as a frequent model, he is shown here as beheaded and dissected, instead of being shown as an écorché proudly anatomising himself. He stares up at the viewer through the flaps of his own skin, looking almost defeated. I read this as being representative of an antagonistic relationship between this SS. Giovanni e Paolo patron and Fialetti, thus the use of a rather dramatic visual insult.
63
For additional anatomical treatises with landscape backgrounds, please see: B. da Carpi,Isagogae breves per lucidae ac uberrimae in Anatomiam human corporis. Bologna 1523. C. Cesio,Cognitione de muscoli del corpo humano per il disegno, Romae 1697. [BL, Rare Books, 781.l.31] C. Estienne,La dissection des parties du corps humain. Paris 1546. P. da Cortona,Tabulae anatomicae. Romae 1741. [BNM, 168.D.6] T. Geminus,Compendiosa totius Anatomie delineato. Londini (Ioanni Herfordie), 1545. P. Paauw,
Svccentvriatvs Anatomicvs continens Commentaria in Hippocratem, Lugduni Batavorum 1616. [BNM, 40.D.131] J. Valverde de Amusco,Anatomia del corpo humano. 1560.
64
As previously stated, it is well known that a number of artists owned copies of anatomical treatises to assist them in the accurate description of the human body, as well as using skeletons and écorché casts.