The Anatomical Lesson of Professor Pauw

Lucas Kilian’s Mirrors of the Microcosm (see 1944.461, .462, and .521) were very likely used for reference in the Leiden University anatomy theater, as a set of the 1613 broadsides entered the collection in 1618. The theater already had a tradition of teaching from prints during dissections. In 1598, its founder, Professor Pieter Pauw, had forty prints after Vesalius framed and pasted onto a board for the walls of the theater. The flap broadsides were likely used in a similar didactic manner. Pauw also installed skeletons (visible in the background) and skulls (under the table) to educate his students as well as decorate the space and remind spectators of their impending demise.