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Extremely rare, extremely large and finely executed anatomical engraving by Chrysóstomo Martínez

MARTÍNEZ, Crisóstomo (Chrysostomus).
[Nouvelles figures de proportions et d'anatomie du corps humain].
[Paris, engraved ca. 1687/88]. 71 x 53.5 cm. An extremely large engraved anatomical print (plate size 69 x 52.5 cm; engraved image 68.5 x 51.5 cm). In a passe-partout, under glass in a wooden frame painted black with the inside edge gilt (92 x 73 cm).
€ 17,500
Extremely rare anatomical print conceived, drawn and finely engraved by the Spanish artist and engraver Crisóstomo Martínez, one of the two largest (of 18) plates produced for an anatomical atlas left incomplete when he had to flee Paris for Flanders in 1690. Exactly centred in the print is an anatomical front view of a young adult male and to the viewer's left are a side and back view of the same man. To the viewer's right, below the central figure's left arm, stands the skeleton of a small child, probably no more than three years old. The circles and arcs often indicate how the parts of the body move. The print therefore combines elements from the traditional anatomical illustration of Vesalius with the notions of human proportion of Da Vinci, Pacioli and Dürer (continuing down to Le Corbusier's modulor man). But while the traditional anatomists depicted a dissected dead body, in process of decay, Martínez reconstructs a healthy live body from its parts. This also marked a departure from the traditional memento mori or vanitas images.
With a few small and mostly marginal tears repaired, some faint and mostly marginal water stains, and a few small brown spots, but still in good condition. An extremely large and very finely executed anatomical print, made for a work that was never published and extremely rare. Choulant, Anatomic illustration, pp. 258-260; Haller, Bibl. anatomica I (1774), p. 744; Röhrl, History and bibliography of artistic anatomy, pp. 110-112, 420-42.
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Related Subjects:

Art, architecture & photography  >  Drawings, Prints & Watercolours
Medicine & pharmacy  >  Medicine & Pharmacy pre 1700