Description

Book Synopsis
Beneath the original Venetian glass and rosewood case at La Specola in Florence lies Clemente Susini's Anatomical Venus (c. 1790), a perfect object whose luxuriously bizarre existence challenges belief. This title reveals the evolution of the enigmatic sculptures from wax effigy to fetish figure and the embodiment of the uncanny.

Trade Review
'Wonderful and epically illustrated' - Telegraph
'Fabulous … A mesmerising marriage of art and science' - Tatler
'Joanna Ebenstein's sumptuous book is fascinated by this era in which the study of nature was also the study of philosophy; in which a body created for medical purposes could also be read as a work of art' - Guardian
'An enchanting and repulsive book' - Huffington Post
'What Ebenstein argues is beguiling to our contemporary brains is that the figures weren't strictly medical, but beautiful as well' - vice.com

Table of Contents
Foreword • Introduction • 1. Wax • 2. Theology/History/Italy • 3. Theatre/Fairground/ Spectacle • 4. Eroticism/Romanticism/Gender • 5. Aesthetics and Death • 6. The Uncanny • 7. Surrealism • Afterword

The Anatomical Venus

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    A Hardback by Morbid Anatomy Museum, Joanna Ebenstein

    £21.25

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    RRP £25.00 – you save £3.75 (15%)

    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Wed 2 Sep 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
      Published 16 May 2016
      ISBN-13 9780500252185
      978-0500252185
      ISBN-10 0500252181
      Also in:
      Art & Photography Carvings, masks, reliefs

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Beneath the original Venetian glass and rosewood case at La Specola in Florence lies Clemente Susini's Anatomical Venus (c. 1790), a perfect object whose luxuriously bizarre existence challenges belief. This title reveals the evolution of the enigmatic sculptures from wax effigy to fetish figure and the embodiment of the uncanny.

      Trade Review
      'Wonderful and epically illustrated' - Telegraph
      'Fabulous … A mesmerising marriage of art and science' - Tatler
      'Joanna Ebenstein's sumptuous book is fascinated by this era in which the study of nature was also the study of philosophy; in which a body created for medical purposes could also be read as a work of art' - Guardian
      'An enchanting and repulsive book' - Huffington Post
      'What Ebenstein argues is beguiling to our contemporary brains is that the figures weren't strictly medical, but beautiful as well' - vice.com

      Table of Contents
      Foreword • Introduction • 1. Wax • 2. Theology/History/Italy • 3. Theatre/Fairground/ Spectacle • 4. Eroticism/Romanticism/Gender • 5. Aesthetics and Death • 6. The Uncanny • 7. Surrealism • Afterword

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