Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, Basel: ex. off. J. Oporini, 1543, frontispiece, woodcut, leaf height 43 cm, N*.1.2(A).

The frontispiece bears the title in a cartouche: Seven books on the fabric of the human body by Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, professor of the school of physicians at Padua, with a coat of arms above of three weasels, the insignia of the town of Wesel, from where his family originated and took their name. The woodcut shows Vesalius in the centre of a semi-circular anatomical theatre, with one hand pointing upwards and the other hand on the dissected body of a woman. Vesalius is surrounded by a crowd of onlookers, bustling in the tiered rows.

There are three large figures in ancient robes at the front: one with a basket looking on at Vesalius; the second almost concealed behind him; and a third figure to the right, somewhat distracted by a dog behind him. Perhaps the first figure is meant to be Galen, the second Hippocrates and the third Aristotle. There are also two seated figures at the end of the table who seem to be arguing about instruments. The female cadaver is placed diagonally on the table so that there is room to show instruments (knives and a sponge) there. Though dissected female bodies were often depicted in scenes of caesarean sections or Nero’s murder of his mother, female cadavers in fact were difficult to obtain, and some element of boastfulness can be detected here.

Above Vesalius is a skeleton, emphasizing the importance of the bones. Vesalius is known to have brought in an articulated skeleton into his dissection lectures, and the forked stick that the skeleton is holding is probably the support needed to prop up the skeleton. The dog and the monkey in the bottom corners refer to the animals often used in dissection and also in the Fabrica.