Controversies Around Anatomy in Artistic Treatises During the Modern Period in France

Abstract

Since the Renaissance, in France, artists have closely studied anatomy in order to represent the human body as accurately as possible. Influenced by their peers, Eva Prima Pandora and Le Livre de Pourtraicture by Jean Cousin make extensive reference to Vitruvian proportions through Albrecht Dürer and to anatomy to justify the primacy of painting over sculpture, taking Benedetto Varchi’s commentaries as a starting point. In both works, Jean Cousin introduces a double debate in which he demonstrates that the authority of André Vesalius is precisely used to justify the supremacy of painting over sculpture. This debate is revived a century later by André Félibien, regarding the works of Poussin, who, known for practicing anatomy, continues to refer to André Vesalius. Over the course of a century, it becomes evident how much artists owe to Vesalius’ Fabrica, whose theories and illustrations feed the debates surrounding the arts of painting and sculpture.