Anatomy transformed

Abstract

This paper arose from exhibitions in Oxford and Dublin and comprises three experiments which look at the relationship between anatomy and art. In the first experiment, a passport photograph, photographic portrait and portrait in oils, all of the same sitter, show how artistic input transforms anatomy from a mere likeness into works of art. In the second, the reverse is true, as computer techniques render idealized old master images anatomically accurate. The third experiment addresses the biomechanical consequences of anatomical variation and shows that vehicular design is based on mean body shapes, and so it is the average, rather than the idealized, form that is safer in a collision.

Keywords: anatomical accuracy; art & anatomy; transformation.

Figure 1

Photo‐Me, Anatomist (2018), Passport photograph, 14 × 10 cm.

Figure 2

Amelia Stein RHA, Head (2018), Archival pigment print, 36 × 36 cm.

Figure 3

Mick O'Dea PRHA, Three‐Quarter Length (2018), Oil on canvas, 100 × 85 cm.

Figure 4

Detail from digital prints showing the axes along which the form was warped (red) and the length by which different anatomical sections were changed (blue vectors).

Figure 5

Sandro Botticelli (left), The Birth of Venus–detail (ca. 1485), Tempera on canvas, digital print, 59 × 41 cm (Bridgeman Art Library) & Anil Kokaram (Right), The Birth of Venus Remastered–detail (2018), 59 × 41 cm.

Figure 6

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (Top), Grande Odalisque–detail (1814), Oil on canvas, Digital Print, 48 × 86 cm (Bridgeman Art Library) & Anil Kokaram (Bottom), Grande Odalisque Remastered–detail (2018), 48 × 86 cm.