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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful and acurate anatomy lesson for artists, September 25, 1995
By A Customer
This review is from: Albinus on Anatomy (Dover Anatomy for Artists) (Paperback)
This oversized book contains over 200 illustrations of the human body, posed so as to be of use to the artist studying the human form. Beautiful and highly accurate, the book can be a valuable tool for the artist wishing to improve his skill through a better knowledge of human anatomy.
Albinus himself is not solely responsible for the engravings. He collaborated with an artist who did the drawings and finally the copper plate engravings of the figure. In the meantime, Albinus arranged the poses and oversaw the process from rough sketches to the manipulations of the printing press, ensuring that the accuracy and quality of the images were preserved.
The figures are represented with various layers of tissue exposed, first the nude model, then the outer layer of muscle, the next layer of muscle, the organs, down to the bare skeletons. Each layer has an anterior and a posterior view. The potential for the engravings to become a grim lesson on internal anatomy is offset by the engraving artist¹s whimsy. He was allowed artistic freedom with the background on each plate, and the settings range from a Greek temple to a verdant forest. In one plate a rhinoceros grazes directly behind the model.
For the student of anatomy, each bone is taken individually, and the proportions, muscle attachments, and major connective tissue are shown for each in turn. A passionate introduction to drawing the human body starts the book off, and a complete index ties it together.
The playful, detailed drawings make this book attractive to the artist and the art admirer alike. For its size and complexity, this book is a great buy.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For art students, this book is GREAT!!!!!!, November 12, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Albinus on Anatomy (Dover Anatomy for Artists) (Paperback)
Albinus on Anatomy is a great book. I am a printmaking student;My teacher introduced this book to me when I asked her about detailed etchings of the human figure. I love how intricate and delicate the lines are to create figure. They remind me of the prints of Rembrandt. For anyone interested in art, I really suggest this book. It's great for those studying to be medical illustrators, print students, the everyday sketchers.......ANYONE! It's also great for those who just love to learn about the anatomy of the body.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very cool and detailed anatomy drawings, November 26, 2009
This review is from: Albinus on Anatomy (Dover Anatomy for Artists) (Paperback)
Length:: 0:28 Mins
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (1697 - 1770) was a German-born Dutch anatomist which probably explains why even in the eighteen century, his drawings were so accurate. This anatomy book is a compilation of work from two books he wrote at that time, Tabulae Sceleti et Musculorum Corporis Humani (Tables of the Human Body) and Tabulae Ossium Humanorum (Table of the Human Bones).
When I first saw work of Albinus, it was in Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters. There's a skeleton posing in front of a grazing rhinoceros. And on the cover of this book, there's a cupid over a skeleton's shoulder, trying to throw a cloth over it. How cool is that?
Apparently, the drawings were actually copperplate engravings created with the help of Jan Wandelaar. He's the guy who added the decorative background art. It's great foresight to use long lasting engravings instead of print. The reproduction in this book is brilliant because of that, being able to retain all the details not lost to any degradation. You can still see clearly the intricate cross hatches that wrap onto the surface of muscles and bones.
The content is presented with both the original anatomy illustration together with an outlined line art with labels. There are also close ups on the specific parts, which are a marvel to look at. It's comprehensive enough but nothing is mentioned on how the muscles work or body functions.
Overall a pretty useful and definitely interesting anatomy reference book.
(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
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