Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life

Willem van Swanenburg after Jan Cornelisz, The anatomy theatre at the University of Leiden, 1610, etching © Royal College of Physicians.

Charting 500 years of medical exploration, Anatomy: A Matter of Death and Life considers the social and medical history surrounding the dissection of human bodies. It reveals the role anatomy played in the Enlightenment, uncovering the links between science and crime in the early 19th century and their relation to approaches to anatomical study today.