Anatomical figure thumbnail 1
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Anatomical figure

Statuette
ca. 1580 (made)
Artist/Maker
Cigoli, Ludovico (after)
Place of origin
Italy (made)

Anatomy was an important part of the tuition of young artists, giving them an understanding of the human body and its skeletal and muscular structures. Three-dimensional models of flayed figures (écorchés), in bronze, wood, wax and plaster, played a major part in this training.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Bronze
Object type
Statuette
TitleAnatomical figure (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Statuette, Bronze, écorché of a man, after Ludovico Cigoli (1559-1613), Italy, ca. 1580
Physical description
Anatomical figure demonstrating human muscular structure. Figure has its left hand raised.
Dimensions
  • Height: 635cm (including base)
  • Width: 29cm (base only)
  • Depth: 155cm (base only)
  • Height: 61cm (excluding base)
  • Width: 29cm (whole object (base included))
  • Depth: 18cm (Whole object (including base))
Credit line
Bequeathed by Dr W. L. Hildburgh, FSA
Object history
Given by Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, F. S. A., 1956.

Historical significance: Anatomy was an important tuition of young artists, giving them an understanding of the human body and its skeletal and muscular structures. Three-dimensional models of flayed figures (écorgés), in bronze, wood, wax and plaster, played a major part in this training.
Summary
Anatomy was an important part of the tuition of young artists, giving them an understanding of the human body and its skeletal and muscular structures. Three-dimensional models of flayed figures (écorchés), in bronze, wood, wax and plaster, played a major part in this training.
Bibliographic references
  • Kornell, Monique, in Bignanini, Ilaria and Postle, Martin, The Artist's Model, exh. cat., Nottingham 1991, p. 96, fig 7
  • Amerson Price, L., Jr. The Problem of the Ecorge: A Catalogue Raisonne of Models and Statuettes from the Sixteenth Century and Later Periods, Phd thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1975, pp. 153-211, cat. nos. 6-12
  • Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, pp. 12-13, pl. 4
  • Atterbury, Paul, Heavenly Bodies: Sculptural Responses to the Human Form, Burghley House, Stamford, 2006
  • The Rival of Nature : Renaissance painting in its context, London : National Gallery, 1975 119
  • The Anatomy of gender: arts of the body in early modern Europe: January 3 - March 12 2006, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 2005 p.10, fig.4
  • Kemp, Martin, Spectacular bodies: the art and science of the human body from Leonardo to now, London, Hayward Gallery, 2000
  • Tacye Phillipson, Anatomy. A Matter of Death and Life, cat. exh. Edinburgh, National Museums Scotland, 2 July-30 October 2022, p.10, ill.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.25-1956

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Record createdJanuary 14, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O89467/anatomical-figure-statuette-cigoli-ludovico/
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