Bladzijde uit Reinier de Graaf, Alle de wercken, Amsterdam, 1686 1686

This is a page from Reinier de Graaf's "Alle de wercken," printed in Amsterdam in 1686. It presents a detailed, almost clinical, listing of the female anatomy. The explicit textual representation, categorizing parts of the female body, is reminiscent of ancient anatomical votives. These offerings, found in archaeological sites, symbolize the body, or parts thereof, as a dedication to deities, often seeking healing or fertility. The act of naming and itemizing shares a connection with these votives, carrying a desire to understand and perhaps control the corporeal form. The starkness of the text, devoid of artistic embellishment, paradoxically amplifies its symbolic power. The viewer engages in an act of dissection, parsing the text as if peeling back layers of the body itself. This act may evoke a primal curiosity mixed with trepidation, echoing the complex human relationship with mortality. The non-linear progression of such symbols invites us to consider how these motifs are resurrected, reformed, and re-contextualized throughout history.