Écorché

Etymology

The term écorché, meaning "flayed", came into usage via the French Academies (such as the École des Beaux Arts) in the 19th century.

History

Although there are some accounts of practices similar to écorché as far back as ancient Greece, the degree of similarity is unclear. The term as used today can be applied with the greatest confidence to the Renaissance period onwards.

Renaissance

During the Renaissance in Italy, around 1450 to 1600, the renewed interest in classical Greek and Roman art styles led to the study of the human anatomy. Human dissection had been banned for many centuries due to the belief that body and soul were inseparable. It was not until the election of Pope Boniface VIII that the practice of dissection was permitted for medical observation.

Many painters and artists scrupulously documented and even performed dissections themselves. Among them were Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius, two of the most influential artists in anatomical illustrations. Leonardo da Vinci, in particular, was so detailed in his studies that he was known as the “artist-anatomist” and the foremost pioneer of the depiction of anatomy. Leonardo’s anatomical studies contributed to artistic exploration of the movement of the muscles, joints and bones. His goal was to analyze and understand the instruments behind the postures and gestures in the human body.

17th–19th centuries

The study of anatomical figures became popular among the medical academies across Europe around the 17th and 18th century, especially when there was a lack of bodies available for dissections.

Écorché figures were commonly made out of many different materials: bronze, ivory, plaster, wax, or wood. By the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, wax was the most popular use of material in creating écorché statues. The production of colored wax anatomies allowed for a variety of hues and tone that makes the models appear realistic.

21st century

The écorché form of study still continues at traditional schools throughout the world including the New York Academy of Art, the Art Students League of New York, the Grand Central Academy of Art in New York City, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

File:Van_Gogh_-_Gipsmodell_eines_knienden_Mannes.jpeg|Van Gogh Écorché agenouillé File:Jacques-Fabien_Gautier-Dagoty,French-Muscles_of_the_Back-Google_Art_Project.jpg|Jacques-Fabien Gautier-Dagoty File:An_écorché_figure(life-size),_lying_prone_on_a_table_Wellcome_L0020561.jpg|C. Landsee File:Écorché cavalier Fragonard Alfort 1.jpg|Écorché (with mummification) by Honoré Fragonard

References

References

1. [http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/E.html Écorché] defined at ArtLex.com
2. Lemire, M. (1 December 1992). "Representation of the human body: the colored wax anatomic models of the 18th and 19th centuries in the revival of medical instruction". Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy.
3. Ginn, Sheryl R.. (16 July 2008). "Brain, Mind, and Body: Interactions with Art in Renaissance Italy". Journal of the History of the Neurosciences.
4. Wallace, Martin Kemp, Marina. (2001). "Spectacular bodies : the art and science of the human body from Leonardo to now". [[Hayward Gallery]].
5. Keele, Kenneth D.. (October 1964). "Leonardo Da Vinci's Influence on Renaissance Anatomy". Medical History.
6. Owen, Harry. (1 April 2012). "Early Use of Simulation in Medical Education". [[Simulation in Healthcare]].
7. DARLINGTON, ANNE. (1 December 1986). "The Teaching of Anatomy and the Royal Academy of Arts 1768-1782". Journal of Art & Design Education.
8. "Academy of Art University On Campus Labs". [[Academy of Art University]].