I’m a little OCD about quite a few things, many of which I will slowly expound upon here for your viewing pleasure. One my many loves is anatomy: the antique diagrams on parchment and such things found afloat in dusty jars are up my alley and back again.

Frederik Ruysch (circa 1638-1731), as you can imagine, is a bit of an old-dead-guy crush I harbor in my wild little heart. As an old world anatomist, Ruysch was a pioneer of preservation methods, so much so that he’s called the Rembrandt of Human Remains (yeah, kick ass title right) in many circles that keep up with such stuff.

In light of all this gruesome loveliness, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography along with the University of Amsterdam, have recently launched a virtual museum dedicated to Ruysch’s anatomical preparations: The Virtual Museum of 17th Century.

Check the site and take a look for yourself. Do it …do it now!!
De anatomische preparaten van Frederk Ruysch

There’s also some awesome pics and another article on this here at Morbid Anatomy.

Man, what I would give for a sculpture rendition of the conjoined twin skeleton. My goodness. One day I hope to have my own little room of anatomical wonders to scare the kiddies with. Seriously, like I can hardly wait.

And check out the painting of the old world down there. Take a guess at which one is Frederik. Far better than a game of Name-That-Tune is a solid game of Name-That-17th-Century-Anatomist.  There are 7 people in the painting, making it seem almost “busy” in some regards. Then you’ve got two guys eyeballing you straight on while their fingers either hold or point towards innards of the wee cadaver on the table…Then there’s the matter of the young cully to the far right side holding the child skeleton… Absolutely fascinating, my friends. Painted in the year of our goddess 1683, it is The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Frederick Ruysch by Jan van Neck.