VIII: In a Similar Vein

Ah, the vicissitudes of life during the apocalypse. Unimpeded (more or less) by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune befallen him, your Archivist offers this morsel for your bemusement, accompanied by a sincere apology of its later-than-planned posting [Insert aphorism regarding virtues of patience here].

For reasons not entirely understood, your Archivist sometimes happens upon some object or image that simply amuses him for no particularly discernible reason. This discovery then leads to an ongoing search for (and research of) similarly-themed objects. Note to armchair alienists: please, no psychopathy as to which particular mental ailments such a pastime might infer. And with that preamble, I offer this small collection of human maps of veins and arteries accompanied by an assurance that, for better or worse, there’re many more posts yet to come.

Arteries and veins are blood vessels that transport blood throughout the body. The former carry oxygen-rich blood away from the heart, replenishing the body, while the latter return depleted blood back to the heart for reoxygenation. The formal study of the systemic (oxygen-rich) and pulmonary (oxygen-poor) systems goes back to at least the Ancient Period. Under the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the prestigious Greek physician Galen wrote, “throughout the body the animal arteries are mingled with veins and veins with arteries... it is a useful thing for all parts of the animal to be nourished”. [quoted in, A History of the Arteries and Veins, Stanford University]. Um, just don’t ask exactly how he came to reach these conclusions.

Looking at a map of human veins or arteries immediately calls to mind some visual metaphor of trees and branches or rivers and tributaries. Perhaps it is this allusory characteristic that intrigued your Archivist in the first place. Because we see arteries as suggestive of tree branches, does that mean that we gained familiarity with the arboreal patterns before those of our own circulatory system? Presumably, metaphors occur in some discernable chronological order; the familiar (earlier) assigned as the metaphor to the unfamiliar (later). Hmm... Etymology and evolution of metaphors. Something new with which to distract myself.

Some Circulatory Maps

Map of Human Circulatory System from Anatomia Corporum Humanorum by William Cowper, 1740.

Print on paper leaf. About 71 x 31 cm.

Used by Cowper for his 1740 work, this plate originally appeared in Goverd Bidloo’s Anatomia Humani Corporis in 1685. The finely-rendered illustration also includes detailed dissections of blood vessel walls and skin tissues.

The heart of the matter.

Varicose veins?

Map of Human Veins from Encyclopédie by Denis Diderot, Third-Quarter Eighteenth Century.

Print on paper leaf. About 16 x 23 cm.

Looking like a hulking figure composed of sea kelp more than veins, this print continues a tradition of illustration from the Medieval and Renaissance Periods. Typically, however, earlier depictions included some outline of the human body; this one stands eerily bereft of flesh and bone.

A closer look...

Map of Human Arteries from Encyclopédie by Denis Diderot, Third-Quarter Eighteenth Century.

Print on paper leaf. About 18 x 22 cm.

Here’s the companion piece to the previous print. Quite visually distinct from the venous map, this one is much more suggestive of a human.

Do you see branches or rivulets?

Anatomy as Art

Infinity Science Fiction, v. 1, #1, cover by Robert Engl. 1955.

Magazine digest. About 14 x 19 cm.

A unique perspective on matrimony, this cover by Robert Engl reflects the morbid fascination with human anatomy in pop culture.

You know what they say about him...

Garrett Magazine Ad. 1963.

Print on paper. About 24 x 32 cm.

Befitting a science fiction magazine cover as much as a magazine ad, this illustration for an R&D firm almost resembles a space-age transfiguration. If, maybe, you squint your eyes a bit...

Definitely trippy...

Anatomy: A Cutaway Look Inside the Human Body. 2017

Hardcover book by Hélèn Druvert & Jean-Claud Druvert. Thames & Hudson. About 26 x 37 cm., 44 pp. with laser cuts and flaps

This beautifully-designed book reminds me of the wax anitomica of the 18th Century (only much less creepy). With peel-back flaps that allow one to peek underneath the skin and mesmerizingly detailed laser cuts, this book is a delight to peruse.

A literal cutaway view of the circulatory system.

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I hope you enjoyed this visual romp across the centuries and that you are as bemused by the evolution and appropriation of images over time as I. Please come back to see what’s next.

Thank you for visiting.

de Gustibus

“Nothing is but what is not.”