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Materia Medica: Anatomical Illustrations in Early Modern Spain

This dissertation examines anatomical images in Early Modern Spain and their corresponding texts as critical material agents in the reorganization of the human body in print. My research shows that Spanish artists and anatomists under investigation in this study reflect the dynastic and scientific ambitions of the Spanish Empire where observation and practical experience were valued over theory and inflated Latin erudition. Galvanized by this unwritten mandate, Spanish anatomists embarked on projects that many historians have classified as plagiarisms. These images have suffered neglect in discourses that often privileged originality, aesthetics or anatomical accuracy; however, I argue that these considerations limit our understanding of proto-scientific text production in the early modern period when issues of authorship were porous. These images engaged and contributed to contemporary intellectual processes, rather than just acting as passive copied illustrations. My project considers these images as vital points of epistemic convergence: images that illustrated theories, attempted to replace them, and induced anxiety over their reliability. Most of the images included in this study are from medical publications, like Valverde’s Historia de la Composicion Humana, but others were included in artist’s manuals, like Arfe’s De Varia Comensuracion, and yet others were included in broadsheets and popular publications. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 4, 2018. / Anatomy, Arfe, Early Modern, Prints, Renaissance Spain, Valverde / Includes bibliographical references. / Stephanie Leitch, Professor Directing Dissertation; Robinson Herrera, University Representative; Jack Freiberg, Committee Member; Paul Niell, Committee Member.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_654701
ContributorsAlarcon, Carolina (author), Leitch, Stephanie (professor directing dissertation), Herrera, Robinson A., 1966- (university representative), Freiberg, Jack (committee member), Niell, Paul B., 1976- (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Fine Arts (degree granting college), Department of Art History (degree granting departmentdgg)
PublisherFlorida State University
Source SetsFlorida State University
LanguageEnglish, English
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText, text, doctoral thesis
Format1 online resource (386 pages), computer, application/pdf

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