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Cranial Dissection, plate five from Anatomy of the Head, in Printed Paintings

A work made of color mezzotint, with touches of engraving on cream laid paper, varnished.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of color mezzotint, with touches of engraving on cream laid paper, varnished.

Date:

1748

Artist:

Jacques Fabien Gautier D’Agoty
French, 1710-1781

About this artwork

In the dedication of his book, to King Louis XV, Gautier D’Agoty justified his subject matter in true Enlightenment form by pointing out that the head most differentiates men from animals and is “the Temple of Wisdom, and Sanctuary of Virtue.” Gautier offered his “printed paintings” to the king as a substitute for observing the dissected specimens in person: “YOUR MAJESTY would not deign to cast his eyes on these marvels from too close and affecting a distance. I present them to you faithfully printed after nature. My burin will save you the horror that nature itself would inspire in you.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Jacques Fabien Gautier d'Agoty

Title

Cranial Dissection, plate five from Anatomy of the Head, in Printed Paintings

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1748

Medium

Color mezzotint, with touches of engraving on cream laid paper, varnished

Dimensions

Image/plate: 32 × 40 cm (12 5/8 × 15 3/4 in.); Sheet: 39.2 × 56 cm (15 7/16 × 22 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

Reference Number

2013.536

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/149494/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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