Hybrid Event | Scholarship at the Source: Allister Neher on Art and Anatomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain

Join us during Science Literacy Week for a discussion by scholar and author Allister Neher upon themes from his recent book, Art and Anatomy in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Dr. Neher will discuss how art and anatomy were closely tied during this era, with anatomists attending drawing classes and art students attending lessons in anatomy. Two of the three figures at the centre of Neher’s study are usually known for their connections to the medical world: John Bell was an anatomist and surgeon, and Robert Carswell was a pathologist. Charles Landseer, the third figure, was a famous artist who studied anatomy with Sir Charles Bell, John Bell’s younger brother. Some of their works, which are among the Osler Library holdings, will be on display at the library and will feature in Dr. Neher’s talk.

Note: This will be a hybrid event, but we have reached our limit for in-person attendance. Mask wearing is strongly encouraged.

Please RSVP below for virtual attendance. 

About the Speaker

Allister Neher, a former Humanities professor at Dawson College, is a research associate of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. His research interests include the history of art theory and the intersection of art and science, especially in anatomical illustration. His most recent publications include: “John Bell (1763-1820) Anatomist and Art Theorist,” The British Art Journal; “William Clift’s Sketches of Executed Murderers,” The Social History of Medicine; “The Truth about our Bones: William Cheselden’s Osteographia,” Medical History; “Christopher Wren, Thomas Willis and the Depiction of the Brain and Nerves,” Journal of Medical Humanities, “Robert Knox and the Anatomy of Beauty,” BMJ -Medical Humanities, among many others.