1455 - Medicine & Pharmacy - Anatomical model, known as the "Ecorché by Michelangelo." Germany, ca. 1920, with the maker’s mark “JB.” on the back, plaster. Height: approx. 25 cm.

Medicine & Pharmacy - Anatomical model, known as the "Ecorché by Michelangelo." Germany, ca. 1920, with the maker’s mark “JB.” on the back, plaster. Height: approx. 25 cm. “This prominent example of an ‘écorché’ (from the French word for ‘to skin’) dates back to the 16th century. No skin, but veins and muscles instead—such sculptures have been created since the Renaissance for the study of human anatomy. Here, however, the work transcends its mere purpose as a teaching and study object, as the man, with his curved, Mannerist-style contorted body, becomes a work of art in his own right. The statuette has been preserved in several versions made of wax and plaster. Once mistakenly attributed to Michelangelo, it consequently attracted a great deal of attention." See Lit.: Catalog of the Plaster Casting Workshop, State Museums of Berlin. The original wax version, attributed to Buonarroti, Michelangelo, circa 1600, Inv. No. 7197, is in the Sculpture Collection and Museum of Byzantine Art, State Museums of Berlin. - An anatomical model, “Ecorché by Michelangelo.” Germany, c. 1920, signed “JB.” Plaster. Height c. 25 cm.