Title page of second edition of Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano, by Valverde de Amusco (1560)

Title page of second edition of Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano, by Valverde de Amusco (1560)

The cover of this edition depicts many skeletons and skulls. The three panels that appear at the bottom of the illustration represent: on the left panel two skeletons, a kid and an old man, on the central panel, a group of men studying the dead body of a naked man who is lying on a table, and on the right panel, several men studying the dead body of a naked woman lying on a table. This illustration is another example of a Adam and Eve-type couple (see Illustration in an edition of Vesalius' De Humani Corporis fabrica Epitome, with annotations by Fontani (1642)), since in the lower panels we can se the bodies of a young naked man and woman. The skeletons in the remaining of the cover, could thus represent either gender and they seem to be neutral.

Valverde de Amusco, Juan (c. 1525- c. 1588)

1560

Illustration.
Dimensions: 31 cm (folio)