Giulio Casseri: Tabulae Anatomicae

Anatomy as a Grand Theater of Images

Around 1600, Giulio Casseri began planning an atlas that would reveal the entire human body through a coherent sequence of images. When the Paduan anatomist died in 1616, the project remained incomplete and unpublished. Daniel Bucretius finally issued the plates in Venice in 1627 under the title Tabulae Anatomicae. Thus Casseri’s anatomical masterpiece, developed over many years, reached the public only after his death.

The volume contains 97 full-page copper engravings, although its title announces only 78 plates. Seventy-seven surviving designs belonged to Casseri’s project; Bucretius commissioned twenty more to complete the sequence. Concise Latin explanations identify the lettered structures and turn the images into a systematically usable atlas.

The Human Body Layer by Layer

The plates range across nearly every major field of anatomy. They depict the skeleton and joints, muscles and tendons, nerves and vessels, the brain and sensory organs, and the organs of the chest and abdomen. Individual regions are exposed in successive stages, allowing their position, course, and interaction to be understood.

Casseri treated the musculature of the back, abdomen, and limbs with particular care. The internal and reproductive organs likewise appear in unusually clear views. The sequence combines the ambition of a comprehensive scientific survey with close observation of individual anatomical details.

The First Convincing Depiction of the Circle of Willis

Among the most scientifically important images are two plates showing the vessels at the base of the brain. Together they provide the first anatomically accurate representation of the arterial ring later known as the Circle of Willis. Thomas Willis would explain its function and clinical significance only decades later.

The plates record not merely an ideal scheme but also an anatomical variation. By presenting two successive stages of dissection, they reveal the precision of Casseri’s observations. Artistic exactitude becomes a direct vehicle of anatomical knowledge.

Bodies in Gardens, Ruins, and Landscapes

Casseri’s figures rarely stand motionless against neutral backgrounds. They stride forward, turn toward the viewer, or lift their own skin, muscles, and organs to display the body’s interior. Gardens, lawns, ruins, and broad landscapes open behind them. The anatomical body appears like an actor upon a carefully arranged stage.

This visual concept continues the tradition of Andreas Vesalius and intensifies it into an early Baroque spectacle. Even deeply dissected bodies retain gesture, posture, and individuality. Some resemble merchants, artisans, or countrywomen of their time. The atlas is defined by its union of lifelike presence, theatrical movement, and medical precision.

The plates are associated with the painter Odoardo Fialetti and the engraver Francesco Valesio. Delicately graded lines model muscles, tissues, and vessels, while the landscapes create depth and atmosphere.

Nine Plates on the Formation of the Child

A jointly preserved sequence of nine engravings is devoted to the uterus, placenta, and fetus. Several images show the opened female body; especially famous is a plate in which the abdominal wall unfolds like flower petals around the unborn child. Scientific demonstration and artful staging are again inseparably joined.

Across 97 anatomical and nine embryological plates, the body is opened, animated, explained, and aesthetically transformed. The Tabulae Anatomicae shape these elements into a commanding visual work poised between the dissecting room, scientific discovery, and Baroque art.