In preparation for ART 321 / HUM 321 Bodies of Knowledge: Art and Anatomy in Renaissance Italy, with Susanna C. Berger, we pulled a few prints beyond the Renaissance focus. These two four-color mezzotints are by Arnaud-Eloi Gautier-D’Agoty (1741-1780 or 1783), the second son of the celebrated Jacques-Fabien Gautier-D’Agoty (1717-1786), who held the royal privilege for color printing in France.
The Gautier-Dagoty family (including all five sons) printed and published a number of scientific and anatomical studies both together and individually. Arnault-Eloi is credited with the color plates for Nicolas Jadelot’s Cours complet d’anatomie (1773) and the illustrations for the Mémoire sur des bois de cerfs fossiles (1775) by Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741–1819). Although we don’t own the complete volumes, we do have these two full body muscle studies.
More attention is often paid to the printing of these anatomies, than their medical application. Arnault’s father learned multi-color printing at the studio of Jacob Christoph Le Blon, where he “remained there for only a few weeks, long enough to study the process of colour printing that Le Blon had developed, of superimposing three mezzotinted plates. In order to make use of this method without being accused of plagiarism and to speed up the printing, Jacques-Fabien used an extra plate inked in black or bistre, which gave the tonal values: this was the basic principle of four-colour printing. He was granted a royal licence, which was disputed by Le Blon’s heirs until 1748.” (Oxford Dictionary of Art)
Arnault-Eloi Gautier-D’Agoty (1741-1780 or 1783), Plate 8 in Cours complet d’anatomie peint et grave en couleurs naturelles (Full course anatomy painted and engraved in natural colors), 1773. Color mezzotint, aquatint, and engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2012.01421
Arnault-Eloi Gautier-D’Agoty (1741-1780 or 1783), Plate 4 in Cours complet d’anatomie peint et grave en couleurs naturelles (Full course anatomy painted and engraved in natural colors), 1773. Color mezzotint, aquatint, and engraving. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2012.01420