ABOVE: NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE
Legend has it that Russian czar Peter the Great once kissed the forehead of an embalmed child, mistaking it for a slumbering baby. That lifelike infant was one of the many treasures in Frederik Ruysch’s cabinet of curiosities. Ruysch, a Dutch anatomist and botanist, was famous for his tableaux: aesthetic amalgamations of plant, animal, and human parts that reminded viewers of the ephemerality of life.
After his father’s death in 1654, 16-year-old Ruysch was apprenticed to an apothecary to help support his family. After gaining his license, he began studying medicine at the University of Leiden, where he dabbled in the preparation of anatomical specimens.
In 1666, he moved to Amsterdam and became an anatomy instructor for the city’s surgeons’ guild. He also taught obstetrics and midwifery. In 1679, he was named “doctor to the court of justice” for the city, a role that included ...
