1900 Vigot Anatomical Model of a Woman

A distinctive c. 1900 set of fold-out chromolithographed illustrations of human female anatomy produced by Vigot Frères and the publisher Gerson Löwensohn. It is the product of a culmination of advances in both scientific knowledge and printing technology.

A Closer Look

Multiple interconnected pieces display the anatomy of an adult human female, some emphasizing particular systems (circulatory, muscular, etc.) and others demonstrating the integrated whole. At left, a key corresponds to numbered organs, bones, muscles, and arteries in the body. Schematics like this became a helpful tool for physicians, medical students, and members of the public with a scientific inclination in the late 19th and early 20th century. This was a period when medicine was becoming increasingly professionalized and specialized, with anatomical science developing into a distinct field by drawing on new technologies, especially microscopy.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography, sometimes called oleography, is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when it emerged as the dominant method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

These plates (plances) were published by Vigot Frères, a Parisian publisher specializing in medical texts, and Gerson Löwensohn, a Bavarian firm specializing in chromolithography, inventive printing formats, and foreign language publications. Though not cataloged in the OCLC, this work is held by the Yale University Center for British Art. A corresponding work, 'Le Corps Humain. Anatomie De L'Homme,' was also published, and is similarly sparse in institutional collections.