Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, Basel: ex. off. J. Oporini, 1543, p. 190, woodcut, leaf height 43 cm, N*.1.2(A).

The rope used in the muscle figure in Berenagario’s Short introduction indicated the noose by which criminals were executed. Ropes were also used in dissection halls to maneuver the cadaver, and it is in this function that the rope is shown here. Vesalius explained that this was the way the body was hung while it was drawn. The reason for making the body pose in this rather awkward way was to ensure that the transverse septum (diaphragm), marked ∆, was shown. The diaphragm, removed, was stuck on the wall ‘by its stickiness’, which is a clever way of showing a non-visible property of an anatomical structure.