Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Though they might be most familiar to us today from children’s books, some early anatomy books and broadsheets used liftable flaps. Layers of paper can be peeled back to expose ever-deeper parts of the body—from the skin to muscles, internal organs, and finally the bones. First published in 1613, “Catoptrum microcosmicum” (or “Microcosmic mirror”) by the German physician Johannes Remmelin, with engravings by Lucas Kilian, surpassed all previous flap anatomies in its sheer number and complexity of flaps. This video is of the authorized second edition of 1619.
'Catoptrum microcosmicum' is a part of the exhibition "Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy," and is on view at the Getty Research Institute from February 22, 2022 to July 10, 2022. Learn more: https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/anatomy/
Though they might be most familiar to us today from children’s books, some early anatomy books and broadsheets used liftable flaps. Layers of paper can be peeled back to expose ever-deeper parts of the body—from the skin to muscles, internal organs, and finally the bones. First published in 1613, “Catoptrum microcosmicum” (or “Microcosmic mirror”) by the German physician Johannes Remmelin, with engravings by Lucas Kilian, surpassed all previous flap anatomies in its sheer number and complexity of flaps. This video is of the authorized second edition of 1619.
'Catoptrum microcosmicum' is a part of the exhibition "Flesh and Bones: The Art of Anatomy," and is on view at the Getty Research Institute from February 22, 2022 to July 10, 2022. Learn more: https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/anatomy/
