Description: From "Alle de Ontleed- Genees- en Heelkundige werken" by Frederic Ruysch, published in 1744. State: Third state of 3. Ref: FMP 4619.
Artists and Engravers: Made by an anonymous engraver after 'Jan Wandelaar'. Jan Wandelaar (Amsterdam; 1690-1759), was an 18th-century painter and engraver from the Northern Netherlands. He was a pupil of Johannes Jacobsz Folkema, Gilliam van der Gouwen, and Gerard de Lairesse. He became the teacher of Pieter Lyonet and Abraham Delfos. He illustrated and engraved the images for Bernhard Siegfried Albinus's Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani.
Subject: Antique Master Print, titled: 'Fredericus Ruysch med. Doctor anatomiae [..].' - Portrait of Frederick Ruysch, the famous anatomist. Frederik Ruysch (Den Haag 1638 - Amsterdam 1731), was an anatomist, zoologist and botanist. He was the son of a government functionary, and trained as the pupil of a druggist. His interest in anatomy led him to study under Sylvius in Leiden, where he graduated on pleuritis in 1664. Ruysch devised a new method of preservation of specimens: arterial embalming using a secret recipe. Using this method he created a Cabinet, a museum in five rooms, where his specimens were exhibited. 'Ruysch' cabinet' or museum was described as a perfect necropolis, all the inhabitants of which were asleep and ready to speak as soon as they were reawakened', and attracted many visitors. His capacity for keen observation and his fabulous skill in injection made him the founder of eighteenth century anatomy. The illustrations are of a very high artistic merit. 'He gave private courses in anatomy to foreign students and devoted himself throughout his life to making anatomical preparations. Ruysch drew on his art not only for strict medical science but also for expression and fantasy. He often made up preparations in a rather romantic, dramatic way. He prepared as an example the corpse of a child as if it were alive so that Peter the Great was inclined to kiss it. In 1715 he announced the sale of his collection. No buyers presented themselves before 1717, when Peter the Great bought it for 30.000 guilders. It was carefully packed and transported by boat to Russia. The tale that the collection was destroyed by sailers drinking the embalming fluid seems not to be true, or at least only partly so.
Condition: Good, given age. Small margins. General age-related toning and/or occasional minor defects from handling. Please study scan carefully.
Size (in cm): The overall size is ca. 17.8 x 23.5 cm. The image size is ca. 16.7 x 22.7 cm.
Size (in inch): The overall size is ca. 7 x 9.3 inch. The image size is ca. 6.6 x 8.9 inch.
Medium: Engraving on hand laid paper.
Location: TPCLA-C34-48
SKU: 63549
Section: LATPC-MASTERPRINTS
