from the notebooks of craig swanson
I just finished taking an anatomy drawing class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. We got to draw lots of bones. Since I like drawing bones so much, I thought this would be a good time to imagine the bones of a pirate (or at least what was left of ‘em).
This is my second cartoon depicting a skeleton (I guess that means I now have a series). My previous cartoon, “Anatomy of a Clown” (see www.perspicuity.com/anofclow.html) was based on the 18th century anatomy drawings of Bernard Albinus. Here, in “Anatomy of a Pirate,” I based my drawing on the work of Andreas Vesalius 200 years earlier.
Vesalius was both a medical doctor and an artist. He believed that the only way to truly understand the workings of the human body was to dissect and study cadavers. This approach was unique in his time, when most physicians relied on the medical theories of Galen, a Greek doctor in ancient Rome to guide their work. Through his studies, Vesalius began to question Galen’s medical axioms. What he came up with was so useful and influential to the medical field that he is now known as the Father of Gross Anatomy.
In 1543, Vesalius completed his epoch work, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (”The Seven Books on the Structure of the Human Body”). The cartoon above is a modified version of Plate 21.
On a lark, I checked to see if anyone had registered the domain name vesalius.com. Wow. What I found was “Vesalius - The Internet resource for surgical education”, a fascinating, yet gruesome Web site for an “emerging generation of physicians”. It provides “detailed narratives on surgical procedures and anatomy.” In one section, you might follow a detailed visual description of the procedure for fixing a hernia, in another, the steps for performing a tracheotomy. (Before you dive into the site, heed this warning: they don’t call it gross anatomy for nothin’!)
Until recently, I had been saving up for corrective laser eye surgery, but now I think I’ll just get myself a laser Heath Kit and wait for the good folks at vesalius.com to provide me with detailed instructions. That should save me a bundle.
I leave you with this word play poem. I came up with it while thinking about pirates.
A Buccaneer Beheadment1
With his head on the block, splayed the dreaded French pirate,
Whose nefarious deeds made his captors irate;
For his crimes he would pay an exorbitant rate.
Bread and Beef Bourginon were the last things he ate.
To the crowd his penultimate words were, “je te
dire que vous…2″ Chop! His last word began, “E…”
1 In workplay, a beheadment is the create of new words by starting with a word and removing one letter at a time.
2 French for: “I say unto you, that you…”
- June 2001
October 19th, 2007 at 1:09 am
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