Great Artists and Great Anatomists: A Biographical and Philosophical Study

ISBN-13: 9781108065283 / Angielski / Miękka / 2013 / 232 str.

Robert Knox

Opis

A gifted yet controversial anatomical teacher, Robert Knox (1791 1862) published this remarkable study in 1852. It explores the influence of anatomy on evolutionary theories and fine art respectively. The first part of the work discusses the lives and scientific insights of the eminent French naturalists Georges Cuvier (1769 1832) and Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772 1844). Rejecting the explanations offered by natural theology, Knox maintains that descriptive anatomy can give answers to questions surrounding the origin and development of life in the natural world. The latter part of the book is concerned with the relation that anatomy bears to fine art, specifically the painting and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance. Entering the debate about the importance of anatomical knowledge in art, Knox focuses on 'the immortal trio' of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. Henry Lonsdale's sympathetic biography of Knox has also been reissued in this series."