Queer Anatomies: Aesthetics and Desire in the Anatomical Image, 1700-1900

Queer Anatomies explores overlooked examples of erotic expression within 18th and 19th-century anatomical imagery, uncovering the subtle eroticism of certain illustrations and the queerness of the men who made, used, and collected them. It assembles a lost archive of queer expression, ranging from images of nudes, dissected bodies, penises, vaginas, rectums, hands, faces, and skin to scenes of male viewers gazing upon works of art governed by anatomical principles. The book decodes the words and images of the men who produced and savored illustrated anatomies, unearthing the connections between medical history, connoisseurship, queer studies, and art history and the understudied relationship between anatomy and desire.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 17 October 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Sexual body parts and same-sex desire were once considered taboo subjects in polite conversation and printed discourse, but one scientific discipline, anatomy, had the freedom to depict and narrate the intimate details of the human body, including the anus and genitals. Anatomical presentations, often depicted in anatomical plates, were sometimes sober and technical, but they could also be monstrous, provocative, flirtatious, theatrical, beautiful, and even sensual. Queer Anatomies explores overlooked examples of erotic expression within 18th and 19th-century anatomical imagery. It uncovers the subtle eroticism of certain anatomical illustrations and the queerness of the men who made, used, and collected them. As a foundational subject for physicians, surgeons, and artists in 18th- and 19th-century Europe, anatomy was a privileged, male-dominated domain. Artistic and medical competence depended on a deep knowledge of anatomy, which offered cultural legitimacy, healing authority, and aesthetic discernment to those who practiced it. The anatomical image could serve as a virtual queer space, a private or shared closet, or a men's club. Serious anatomical subjects were charged with erotic, often homoerotic, undertones. Queer Anatomies assembles a lost archive of queer expression, featuring 115 illustrations in full-color reproduction, ranging from images of nudes, dissected bodies, penises, vaginas, rectums, hands, faces, and skin to scenes of male viewers gazing upon works of art governed by anatomical principles. However, the men who produced and savored illustrated anatomies were reticent and closeted. Diving into these textual and representational layers reveals a complex and nuanced history of queer expression within the realm of anatomy.

Weight: 614g
Dimension: 157 x 234 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350400870