Scholarly record

MASTERY OF THE HUMAN FABRICA: SEEKING TITIAN IN VESALIUS ANATOMY

I. Vodopivec

Abstract

The paper debates possible authorship of designs for printed illustrations in one of the most famous anatomies issued during the Renaissance period – the work of Andreas Vesalius entitled De humani corporis fabrica libri septem pubished in 1543. The anatomy contains more than 250 illustrations, of which 22 are made on large folio plates; three of them depicting skeletons, others depicting human body structures. Many studies have analyzed possible masters who prepared designs for the illustrations in question. Among the most commonly mentioned are Tiziano Vecellio and artists active in his circle, like Jan Stephan van Calcar and Domenico Campagnola. Still, the question of authorship remains. For this reason a research was made to investigate the possibilities of Titian being the actual author of the large folio depictions. The purpose of the paper is to present the results of a comparative analysis between 22 full-page plates from the Fabrica to the known masterpieces of Titian. Results show some notable parallels between these depictions and Titian's painted works. Besides, the common paths and patrons of Titian and Vasalius in the time of the Fabrica publication are given. Furthermore, the paper also suggests cooperation of multiple artists working on the Fabrica, which was also common practice in similar examples of other large editions issued in this period.

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