0:00:10 > 0:00:11We are our bodies.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15We see the outside all the time,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17but that's less than half the story -
0:00:17 > 0:00:20the surface, the exterior.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23We know far less about what's inside.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Heaven forbid that we should actually see our insides.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31Most people go through their life without getting a look
0:00:31 > 0:00:34at their organs, and for good reason.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36My lungs and kidneys and heart
0:00:36 > 0:00:41and bones and muscles, arteries and veins, they do their jobs unseen.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46But for the anatomists, the doctors and artists who have struggled
0:00:46 > 0:00:49for centuries to understand how our bodies actually work,
0:00:49 > 0:00:53getting inside - dissection - was vital.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59In this five-part series,
0:00:59 > 0:01:02I'll be investigating the beautiful synthesis between discoveries
0:01:02 > 0:01:06in anatomy and the works of art that illustrate them.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09As a scientist myself,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13and someone who is fascinated by anatomical images, I want
0:01:13 > 0:01:19to find out exactly how anatomy has inspired art and art, anatomy.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24And it is going to be my privilege to see some of the greatest
0:01:24 > 0:01:26works of art in the world.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33In the 17th century, the Netherlands experienced an artistic
0:01:33 > 0:01:35and scientific renaissance.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38During this Dutch Golden age,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41anatomy became not only the cutting edge of science,
0:01:41 > 0:01:45but fashionable as well, and it inspired some of the most beautiful
0:01:45 > 0:01:50representations of the anatomist's skill that have ever been produced.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Many of the great doctors and scientists and thinkers who drove
0:01:54 > 0:02:00this revolution have been largely forgotten, except in one sense.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Some of their dissections, their anatomy lessons,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06were captured in paintings, and the artists who painted them
0:02:06 > 0:02:09were amongst the very best, including Rembrandt.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13So what was it that drew Rembrandt to anatomy?
0:02:13 > 0:02:17And why for that matter was carving up a dead criminal considered
0:02:17 > 0:02:20a suitable subject for high art?
0:02:31 > 0:02:34I'm in Rembrandt's home country, the Netherlands.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38It was here that in the 1600s, at the height of the Dutch Golden Age,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41something very special happened to anatomy.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46It became the subject of world-class painting,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49the kind of respected art people went to see in galleries.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59When we think of Rembrandt, we tend to think of his portraits.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01They exude a dignity and charm.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Portraits of people at ease with the world at a time
0:03:04 > 0:03:07when the Dutch enjoyed great prosperity and wealth.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12But there was also another side to his art.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Rembrandt is universally recognized as one of the greatest
0:03:18 > 0:03:22painters in the history of Western art, but what is perhaps less well
0:03:22 > 0:03:26known is that he was absolutely fascinated by anatomy.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33The painting I've come to see is being temporarily
0:03:33 > 0:03:36housed in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38It was Rembrandt's first group portrait
0:03:38 > 0:03:42and represented a huge opportunity for the young artist.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Now, I've got to tell you that I've been waiting for this moment
0:03:48 > 0:03:49for quite some time.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52The painting that we're about to see, I think it is fair to say,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54is my favourite painting in the world.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58And I've seen it in prints and reproductions hundreds of times,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01but this is the very first time I'm going to see it in the flesh,
0:04:01 > 0:04:02and it is right in here.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15This is The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Nicolaes Tulp,
0:04:15 > 0:04:16by Rembrandt.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21And it is so much bigger than I thought it was going to be!
0:04:21 > 0:04:23Good Lord, look at that.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37- It just glows.- The amazing thing about Rembrandt is his light.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41But look how it is just...it's illuminated. Oh, wow!
0:04:50 > 0:04:52There is so much to say about this painting that it is
0:04:52 > 0:04:55almost difficult to know where to start.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58But one of the things that I think is really striking about it and one
0:04:58 > 0:05:00of the reasons I absolutely adore it
0:05:00 > 0:05:02is its composition is kind of unusual.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06It's not entirely clear what the focus is meant to be.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10All of the surgeons, members of the Surgeons' Guild,
0:05:10 > 0:05:13who are learning from the great master dissector.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17If you look at their eye lines, they're kind of...odd.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20None of them is looking at the body itself.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24You've got two in the middle who are overlooking
0:05:24 > 0:05:26the body at the book in the corner.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Now, we think that book is De Fabrica, by Vesalius,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32the 16th century anatomist.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33At the back...
0:05:34 > 0:05:36..those two chaps are breaking the fourth wall,
0:05:36 > 0:05:38they're staring right at you.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Group portraits like this were generally commissioned after
0:05:42 > 0:05:46the appointment of a new praelector to commemorate his tenure.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50And each of the surgeons would have paid for his place in the painting.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53Obviously, one of the main focuses of the painting is
0:05:53 > 0:05:54the man in the hat.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56That is Dr Nicolaes Tulp.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00And he, at the time, was the praelector of Amsterdam.
0:06:00 > 0:06:01This is 1632.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04He is the chief medical officer for the city.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08And it was he who commissioned the painting from Rembrandt.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13The hat is important because it indicates Tulp's seniority
0:06:13 > 0:06:15over everyone else in the portrait.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18And interestingly, Rembrandt initially painted
0:06:18 > 0:06:21the guy at the back, his name is Adriaan Slabberaan, with a hat.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23And you can just make out the shadow of it.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28It was painted out at Tulp's request in order to show
0:06:28 > 0:06:32that his status was higher than everyone else in the portrait.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40Tulp was a relatively young man at the time, 39, which is my age.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44But he would go on to make significant contributions to both
0:06:44 > 0:06:45medicine and science.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48He was the first person to suggest that smoking
0:06:48 > 0:06:50was related to lung disease.
0:06:50 > 0:06:53He was the first person to suggest that women with breast cancer
0:06:53 > 0:06:58should have the diseased tissue removed and drained, a mastectomy.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02But he also went on to have a really significant political career.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05In fact, he was mayor of Amsterdam four times.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Although group portraits of surgeons had been commissions before,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Rembrandt's was unusual in that it gave such prominence
0:07:15 > 0:07:17to an entire dead body.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Nina Siegal is a writer in Amsterdam who recently published
0:07:23 > 0:07:25a novel based on this painting and the dead criminal,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Adriaan Adriaanszoon, who is at its heart.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34One thing that really strikes me is that
0:07:34 > 0:07:38because of Rembrandt's ability to paint skin tones,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Adriaanszoon is just there, he just glows above everyone else.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44I don't know whether that was deliberate that he should be
0:07:44 > 0:07:47the prominent figure, but that is what it looks like to me.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Well, in my research, I actually found that this criminal was a thief.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54And everywhere that he went, he would be whipped or branded
0:07:54 > 0:07:58and his body would be scarred, basically, by his punishments.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03And yet Rembrandt seems to have chosen to clean up the body,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06to make the body very bright and very illuminated.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08When you look at the picture, you just can't help but
0:08:08 > 0:08:11your eye automatically goes to this dead man.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Do you think that was Tulp's idea or was it Rembrandt's idea,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- do we know?- I believe that it was Rembrandt's idea,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and it was a radical idea on his part.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24I think we have to think of this as Rembrandt's attempt at redemption.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26He has taken a common criminal,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29who would have been reviled in his own society,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33and turned him into a kind of saint or Christ-like figure,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37a Lazarus, somebody who is redeemed through science, essentially.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45Over the years, much has been made about how accurate it is.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Where does this come from?
0:08:47 > 0:08:50Why is there such fascination with how accurate it is?
0:08:50 > 0:08:53You have to remember that this whole picture is a fiction.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56Doctors, of course, and medical people want to look at it
0:08:56 > 0:08:59as a document of the existing medical knowledge of that time,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01but what it really is is a construction
0:09:01 > 0:09:03of Rembrandt's imagination.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06If there was an anatomical lesson,
0:09:06 > 0:09:08they would not have started with the arm,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10they would've started with the torso and they would've cut out
0:09:10 > 0:09:13the belly first, cos those are the organs that decay fastest.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16So we would not have seen this picture at all.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19In fact, we would not have seen these men standing around in this
0:09:19 > 0:09:20way either.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23They would have been in a theatre that was in the round that
0:09:23 > 0:09:26was about 200 to 300 people.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29They would've all been standing over the railings and shouting
0:09:29 > 0:09:30and arguing.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34So, in fact, the whole picture is a work of fiction created by Rembrandt
0:09:34 > 0:09:38to create a kind of harmony and to tell a story that he wants to tell.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44For years, there have been debates about the anatomical
0:09:44 > 0:09:46accuracy of Adriaanszoon's arm.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49In my view, it looks absolutely fine.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52But the important point about choosing to focus on the arm
0:09:52 > 0:09:56is that Rembrandt and Tulp were making a statement.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59If I straighten the finger out here,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01you can see the muscle,
0:10:01 > 0:10:03the tendon of the muscle moving.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05So, if you can imagine if you have an inflammatory...
0:10:05 > 0:10:08The arm had been an object of fascination for both the
0:10:08 > 0:10:12ancient physician Galen and his 16th century successor, Vesalius.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Well, the choice for the section of the forearm was clearly not
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Rembrandt's, it was most probably Tulp's because Tulp followed
0:10:21 > 0:10:23the example of the great physician
0:10:23 > 0:10:26of the 16th century - Andreas Vesalius.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29In his book, Vesalius had himself portrayed
0:10:29 > 0:10:30with a dissected forearm.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35And he named it the most important instrument for a doctor.
0:10:35 > 0:10:41So in adopting this iconography in The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Tulp,
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Mr Tulp shows himself as the new or reborn as Vesalius, in a way.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52If we move slightly more distally, we come across this
0:10:52 > 0:10:56square-shaped structure here, where these tendons are popping out.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59The hand was the instrument of instruments.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It was regarded as the most divine thing.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04And Galen said,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07"This is a wonderful piece of natural engineering."
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Choosing the hand has got all that riding on it.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13It relates to Galen,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15it relates to Vesalius
0:11:15 > 0:11:21and it relates to Tulp's own interest in what makes the human being divine.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23So, Rembrandt's an amazing artist.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27He is one of the people who can create these layers of meaning.
0:11:30 > 0:11:35Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in Leiden in 1606.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37He came here, to Amsterdam,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40when he was in his early 20s and set up a studio.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48With 100,000 inhabitants, Amsterdam was the largest
0:11:48 > 0:11:52city in the Dutch Republic, and it was the richest.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55There was money here, money to invest in universities
0:11:55 > 0:11:58and medicine and money to commission up-and-coming artists,
0:11:58 > 0:12:00like Rembrandt himself.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08The Dutch Republic was really the centre of the world.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11It was the most radical, the most dynamic economic
0:12:11 > 0:12:13and political structure that the world had ever seen,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17and that had consequences both for art and for science.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21The new rich traders
0:12:21 > 0:12:26and merchants wanted art that would reflect their view of the world,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30and that's why you get these fantastic paintings of very ordinary
0:12:30 > 0:12:35people, of wealthy people but not of rich people, not of aristocrats.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39So, in a sense, Rembrandt is actually reflecting the fashion,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41the zeitgeist of what is going on in Amsterdam at this time.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Very much so.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47He is both representing the economic and social power that exists
0:12:47 > 0:12:52and also describing this beginning of this wave of discovery,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55of scientific discovery, that was going to take place throughout
0:12:55 > 0:12:57the Dutch Republic through the 17th century.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02This wave of discovery saw people striving after new knowledge
0:13:02 > 0:13:05instead of relying on the wisdom of the ancients.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08And Rembrandt himself was no different, particularly
0:13:08 > 0:13:10when it came to understanding anatomy.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Rembrandt lived and worked right there for 20 years
0:13:15 > 0:13:19He moved in just after he finished painting the Tulp Anatomy Lesson.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Now unfortunately, he wasn't very good with money,
0:13:22 > 0:13:26and he frittered away his cash. He went bankrupt in 1656.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30He had to sell this place to repay all of his debts.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Now as part of that process,
0:13:32 > 0:13:35an inventory was drawn up of all of his possessions.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39And amongst the bric-a-brac of a painter's life,
0:13:39 > 0:13:43there were body parts - four flayed arms and legs.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56Everything that you can see here is reconstructed from that inventory.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Rembrandt owned a range of curiosities,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04including exotic weapons and lion skins.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09And he collected paintings, drawings, prints and casts.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16The inventory is proof of Rembrandt's curiosity
0:14:16 > 0:14:20about anatomy and death, but it is not the only evidence that we have.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23We also know that he visited local butcher shops
0:14:23 > 0:14:28and picked up animal parts, joints that he could study and sketch.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35In 1656, the year of his bankruptcy,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Rembrandt was commissioned to paint a second anatomy lesson,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42this time conducted by a Doctor Deijman, who had succeeded
0:14:42 > 0:14:46Nicolaes Tulp as praelector of the Surgeons' Guild three years earlier.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Although Tulp was a skilled and modern anatomist,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56as a doctor, he remained loyal to classical medicine,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00whereas Rembrandt's portrayal of Dr Deijman seems to reflect
0:15:00 > 0:15:03a growing interest in new ideas.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Well, that is very different, isn't it?
0:15:05 > 0:15:08It is much darker, almost sinister.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10And it certainly gives the impression of being
0:15:10 > 0:15:12a lot less staged.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Once again, the body being sliced up is that of a criminal.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21This chap was called Joris Fonteijn, also known as Black John.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24He was executed on the 27th of January, 1656,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27for multiple counts of burglary.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34This painting has been hugely overshadowed by the Tulp Anatomy
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Lesson, and that is mostly because this is less than
0:15:37 > 0:15:39a sixth the original.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43In 1723, almost the whole thing was destroyed in a fire.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46This fragment is all that remains.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Fortunately, a preliminary drawing by Rembrandt does survive,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54showing that the corpse would have been surrounded by surgeons.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Based on this and by borrowing from other Rembrandt paintings
0:15:57 > 0:15:59for the missing head shots,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03experts at the Amsterdam Museum have created a digital reconstruction
0:16:03 > 0:16:07to show what the original painting might have looked like.
0:16:08 > 0:16:09Ironically,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13the corpse on the table survived the fire more or less intact.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15And that is because it contains much lead white,
0:16:15 > 0:16:19the element with which the white paint is made.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23And the white of lead white is less sensitive to fire.
0:16:26 > 0:16:29What is interesting about The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Deijman
0:16:29 > 0:16:32is the element of time that Rembrandt incorporated here.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34He gives us the impression as if we are at the second
0:16:34 > 0:16:38day of the anatomy lesson, because the thorax has been emptied,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42the perishable organs have gone
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and we're looking up to the head,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48with Dr Deijman performing the brain dissection,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52which is a great moment and a moment supreme
0:16:52 > 0:16:53of any anatomy lesson.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56So, Deijman had to surpass his predecessor,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Tulp, in choosing the right dissection.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04And Rembrandt had to surpass his own anatomy lesson of 24 years earlier.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Now, this is very different from the Tulp Anatomy Lesson,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12and I think it is fair to say not quite of the same calibre.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15But there are lots of very interesting things about it.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17And the first is the position of the body.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20Most anatomy lesson paintings have the body lying long ways,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24whereas Joris here is coming out of the picture.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27This forced shortening of his limbs to give very large feet
0:17:27 > 0:17:30and perspective, almost like the cover of a comic book.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32And the second is the position of his head.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34You can't really get your head into that position
0:17:34 > 0:17:36unless you've been hanged.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40It is as if Rembrandt has chosen this precise moment to
0:17:40 > 0:17:45capture a freeze frame of the anatomy lesson in action.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Deijman's hands are poised for the next step,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53which would have been to separate the two hemispheres in order
0:17:53 > 0:17:56to reach down into the core of the brain.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Once again, this harks back to the 16th century and Vesalius,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04whose instructions Deijman could well have been following
0:18:04 > 0:18:08and whose illustrations would have shown him what to expect next.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14But Deijman may have been looking for something more.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18One interpretation is that he was searching for Fonteijn's soul.
0:18:22 > 0:18:23At this point in history,
0:18:23 > 0:18:27people had started to realise that the brain was an extremely
0:18:27 > 0:18:32important organ, and probably the centre of consciousness.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34So the ideas about the soul
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and consciousness have moved from the heart into the brain.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41And there were various models for how this might work.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44And one of the most important have been written by Descartes,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47who was a French philosopher who'd isolated
0:18:47 > 0:18:50the site of the human soul in the pineal gland, which is
0:18:50 > 0:18:57situated just beneath the structures we can see in the Deijman dissection.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00And it could be argued that this painting actually represents
0:19:00 > 0:19:05a fusion of the scientific and religious interests of the age.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10Descartes' book containing this theory, Les Passions De L'ame,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13or The Passions Of The Soul, had been published in Amsterdam
0:19:13 > 0:19:15shortly before this painting was made.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17It was the talk of the town.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20This may explain the enormous popularity of the anatomy
0:19:20 > 0:19:23lectures given by Jan Deijman.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Records indicate that the dissection attracted several hundred
0:19:26 > 0:19:28spectators each day.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Rembrandt clearly excelled in this genre.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39But he was not the only Dutch painter to tackle anatomical
0:19:39 > 0:19:41portraits.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Two of his contemporaries painted portraits of Dr Deijman's
0:19:45 > 0:19:50successor, a man who became praelector in 1666.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52What is fascinating about these paintings is not
0:19:52 > 0:19:56so much the artistry itself, but the anatomists portrayed within them.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59This guy was a character. He was larger-than-life.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04I have to admit, I'm a bit of a fan. His name was Frederik Ruysch.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Now, throughout history, anatomy had been studied
0:20:08 > 0:20:12largely for intellectual reasons - knowledge for its own sake.
0:20:12 > 0:20:16And it appears that Ruysch's motivation was slightly different.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19He was primarily interested in studying anatomy in order to
0:20:19 > 0:20:21help treat patients.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27This very practical use of anatomy is what shines
0:20:27 > 0:20:29through in the paintings
0:20:29 > 0:20:33made of Ruysch by the artist Adrian Backer and Jan van Neck,
0:20:33 > 0:20:36which are temporarily in storage at the Amsterdam Museum.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42This is The Anatomy Lesson Of Frederik Ruysch.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44He is standing there.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48It was painted in 1670.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50It is a painting that belongs
0:20:50 > 0:20:56to the famous series of paintings from the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58And so this is Ruysch here.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00The only one wearing a hat, of course.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02In all of the paintings, the same.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06- And at this point in his career, how old is he?- He is 32 years old.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11But he had a really long career, didn't he?
0:21:11 > 0:21:16Yeah, he had a second painting done in 1683.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20It was painted by Jan van Neck,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25and he is dissecting the corpse of a newborn.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30Quite a disturbing image, this, at least for 20th-century eyes.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34Why did he choose a newborn baby to take apart?
0:21:34 > 0:21:37It was very unusual to show a newborn
0:21:37 > 0:21:39instead of an executed criminal.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45I think he chose to be depicted with a newborn
0:21:45 > 0:21:50because he was also the chief obstetrician of Amsterdam.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54And in terms of what we can see in the picture, there is the baby,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57but then there is very significantly the placenta next to him.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00And one of the surgeons is pointing to it.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02What is the significance of the placenta in this picture?
0:22:02 > 0:22:06Ruysch carefully examined the placenta
0:22:06 > 0:22:10and he believed it was a special muscle in the wall of the uterus.
0:22:10 > 0:22:16And he thought that this muscle was responsible for expelling
0:22:16 > 0:22:19the placenta after delivery.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24That muscle doesn't exist, the womb does that naturally,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28the uterus does expel the placenta as part of birth.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30Is that not what they were doing before this?
0:22:30 > 0:22:35No, sometimes midwives tried to pull out the placenta with a little
0:22:35 > 0:22:40bit of force, and this can cause severe haemorrhages.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45And Ruysch taught them that you could patiently wait for the placenta
0:22:45 > 0:22:50to be delivered, and don't take the risk of those severe bleedings.
0:22:50 > 0:22:55And did he have a positive affect on childbirth, on pregnancy
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- and obstetrics in and around Amsterdam?- I think so,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03because he was concerned with the education of the midwives
0:23:03 > 0:23:08and he got permission from the City Council to teach midwives
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and to perform exams for the midwives.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16So he really transformed the level of obstetrical care in Amsterdam.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21But as well as celebrating Ruysch's medical improvements,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25these paintings testify to his other great skill -
0:23:25 > 0:23:28his groundbreaking preservation techniques, which allowed him
0:23:28 > 0:23:32to conduct dissections beyond the traditional winter season
0:23:32 > 0:23:34and into the early spring.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38When we look at the first Anatomy Lesson Of Dr Ruysch, what is more
0:23:38 > 0:23:42striking is that we are looking at an intact body, almost intact body.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47Because he had a reputation as a wonderful preparer of dead bodies.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Ruysch wanted to have these bodies painted as intact as possible.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55He used rapidly setting liquids
0:23:55 > 0:23:58with added pigments to create
0:23:58 > 0:24:03the effect as if they were not dead, but just asleep.
0:24:03 > 0:24:09And again, this newborn baby is depicted as if it were asleep,
0:24:09 > 0:24:13with his little hand clutched around the umbilical cord.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Which is strange, of course, but wonderful, and moving even.
0:24:20 > 0:24:26Ruysch wants to stress his reputation as an excellent preparer of bodies.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30His reputation internationally was that he could raise the dead
0:24:30 > 0:24:32to life again.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40I think the most important legacy left by Ruysch was he was able
0:24:40 > 0:24:43to both pickle various body parts
0:24:43 > 0:24:47and leave them in a state where they can still be studied today.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50It is quite astonishing that nearly 350 years later, you can
0:24:50 > 0:24:53still look at samples which he created.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57This is extremely important because in making these new discoveries
0:24:57 > 0:25:01about anatomy, people needed to be able to show what they had found.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And this is still used today, the same approach is still used
0:25:04 > 0:25:07today in teaching medical students human anatomy.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16But there is another fascinating aspect to Ruysch's work,
0:25:16 > 0:25:20which I am returning to England to investigate.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23It turns out that as well as being the subject of great art,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Ruysch was himself an incredibly gifted artist.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29If a little bonkers.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35The Wellcome Library has a beautiful edition of engravings made from
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Ruysch's drawings of the anatomical specimens in his collection.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43And this is it -
0:25:43 > 0:25:46The First Anatomical Thesaurus Of Frederik Ruysch, published
0:25:46 > 0:25:53in 1739, eight years after he had died, at the ripe old age of 92.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57I'm just going to have a look at this fold-out illustration.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Wow, this is the most extraordinary, bizarre image.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15I almost don't know what to make of it.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18It has five skeletons of babies,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21which reflects Ruysch's interest in obstetrics.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24And they're all doing different things.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27The one at the top is actually playing a sort of violin
0:26:27 > 0:26:29made of, well, these branching structures.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32He has got a friend down here who is playing some sort of
0:26:32 > 0:26:36wind instrument. And you can tell they're babies because this one,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38you can see the fontanel, which is the gap in the skull before
0:26:38 > 0:26:41the skull has closed in newborns.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44And they're all standing on this giant pile of what
0:26:44 > 0:26:49looks like rocks or eggs. In fact, they are gallbladder stones.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53All surrounded by these branching trees that look like foliage, but in
0:26:53 > 0:26:57fact, I guess, are representations of nerves and arteries.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02It is almost like a Salvador Dali - totally surreal.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06Or maybe a prog rock album cover from the 1970s.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11But whatever, it is totally bonkers and absolutely wonderful.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Ruysch created dozens of these drawings featuring foetal
0:27:14 > 0:27:16skeletons and body parts.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20But while they may seem bizarre, they do carry a solemn message.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25The key message here is actually about trying to show not
0:27:25 > 0:27:27only his art, but also,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31these were kind of moral messages for the people of the time.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34They were showing how short people's lives were
0:27:34 > 0:27:38and indicating that death could come at any moment.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42And we can see at the bottom of this particular illustration that
0:27:42 > 0:27:46one of the skeletons is holding a mayfly, the symbol of a brief
0:27:46 > 0:27:47and ephemeral life.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Frederik Ruysch was a radical pioneer of anatomy.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58And like his predecessors, Nicolaes Tulp and Jan Deijman,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01he challenged the medical status quo.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08In Amsterdam, as the debate raged between ancient wisdom
0:28:08 > 0:28:12and modern medicine, anatomy emerged as the leading medical science.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16During this Dutch Golden Age, our knowledge and understanding of
0:28:16 > 0:28:21childbirth, of cancers, of a whole host of diseases just leapt forward.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25And because the people involved were so celebrated, they were painted.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Thanks to their research, their science,
0:28:28 > 0:28:31we have some of the finest works of art of all time.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34And at the very top of the pile is Rembrandt.