Anatomical atlases provide interesting opportunities for art historians to study products of interdisciplinary collaboration between artists and physicians. Their illustrations are the products of the communication and exchange of ideas between artists and those in the medical profession, utilizing artistic technique and anatomical knowledge to provide the reader with a realistic, yet appropriate image for study and admiration. In the seventeenth century, roughly a century after the publication of Andreas Vesalius’s infamous atlas de Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Corporis (1543), the study of medicine, and in turn anatomy, was growing in popularity. The cities of Amsterdam and Leiden acted as hubs for the pursuit of medical study. 

In 1637 the French philosopher Rene Descartes, who sought refuge in the Dutch Republic for twenty years published Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason. In this Descartes rejected the previously established teleological approach in reason which sought to define the definitive purpose of an object or idea. Descartes promoted a ‘mechanistic’ world view, in which “all worldly reality is reducible to terms of extension, mass, and movement which can be expressed mathematically.” With regards to the human body, Descartes introduced a dualist approach, defined by its assumption that there are two mutually exclusive substances; mind and body, which inhabit their own incompatible spheres. Descartes' dualist approach to the body effectively justified its dissection and study for the purpose of scientific development.

By the 1640’s, Descartes’ philosophy had already begun to establish itself within the academic circles in Leiden, Utrecht, and Amsterdam, heavily influencing anatomical development thereafter. Within the latter half of the century, the study of anatomy flourished under the direction of Universities in Groningen, Leiden, Franeker, and the Hague, allowing for the development of a multitude of anatomical atlases. Following Cartesian logic, anatomists sought to define the body as an object of study, to be explored and dissected in pursuit of freeing the body of illness, and understanding God's creation. The anatomists involved within this endeavor were plentiful, migrating from across Europe to learn and practice in the tolerant and more liberal Dutch Republic. Anatomists competed for clients, patronage, and reputation through these treatises, showcasing their knowledge of the body and their physicking skills to impress readers and obtain high regard. One such anatomist involved in this endeavor was Govard Bidloo (1649-1713).

Within this exhibition, Bidloo's two anatomical atlases, Anatomia Humani Corporis (1685), the later Dutch edition Ontleding des Menschelyken Lichaams (1690), and the English anatomist William Cowper's (1666-1709) the Anatomy of Humane Bodies (1698) will be examined chronologically and comparatively. The purpose of this will be to identify their circumstances of production and reception, the impact that each atlas had on anatomical study, and the relationship between each atlas. Through these analyses, Anatomia and its Dutch and English counterparts will be situated within discursive movements involving publishing, marketing, copyright, and plagiarism in order to illuminate the larger social context that the atlases are situated within.