Intersecting art, science and the scenographic mise-en-scène, this book provides a new approach to anatomical drawing, viewed through the contemporary lens of scenographic theory.
 
Sue Field traces the evolution of anatomical drawing from its historical background as hand-drawn observational scientific investigations through to the contemporary, more complex visualization tools that inform art practices, performances and installations. Presenting an overview of traditional approaches across centuries, opening chapters explore the extraordinary work of scientists and artists such as Andreas Vesalius, Max Brödel, Frank Netter and Dorothy Foster Chubb who, through the medium of drawing, dissect, dismember and anatomize the human form.
 
Anatomical Drawing examines how forms, fluids and systems are entangled within the labyrinthine two-dimensional drawn space and how the body has been the subject of the spectacle. Corporeal proportions continue to be incorporated into the designs of structures, buildings and visual art. Illustrated throughout, the book explores the drawings of 17th-century English architect and scenographer, Inigo Jones, the ghostly, spectral forms illuminated in the present-day x-ray drawings of Benedetta Bonichi and the sensual, textured bodily landscapes in art by Laura Ferguson. Field analyses the contemporary skeletal manifestations that have spawned from the medieval Danse Macabre, such as Walt Disney’s drawn animations, in addition to the theatrical staging, metaphor and allegorical intent in the contemporary drawn artworks of Michael Esson, William Kentridge, Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway. The book also focuses on the work of contemporary female visual artists such as ORLAN, who ‘animate’ the anatomical drawing to inhabit the strange and uncanny spaces of performance.
 
As the digitalization of drawing and modern technology continue to influence the presentation and purposes of anatomical art, this rigorous study reveals how practices have developed in the 21st century.