New five-part series The Beauty of Anatomy will begin on BBC Four from Wednesday 13th August.
Presented by scientist Dr. Adam Rutherford who investigates the close relationship between discoveries in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them. Over the years our attempts to understand how our bodies work have been marked by extraordinary imagery.
The Beauty of Anatomy examines some of the greatest and most extraordinary of these anatomical images from anatomists and artists including the 2nd century Roman, Claudius Galen; Leonardo da Vinci; the founder of modern anatomy, Andreas Vesalius; Rembrandt; the controversial Hunter brothers, who transformed both medicine and art in 18th century Britain; and Doctor Henry Gray and Doctor Henry Carter, who created the world’s most famous study of the human body in Gray’s Anatomy.
Each episode of the series looks at a different anatomist and/or artist to explore the social, political and philosophical context in which each image was created as well as the advances in technology which helped create a range of purposes for each image.
Tune in to BBC Four at 8.30pm on Wednesday 13th August to watch the first episode of the series.
