Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileAnatomical Study of the Human Ocular Muscles
Muskeln des menschlichen Auges
About This Work
The image features five figures labeled 'FIG. I' through 'FIG. V' arranged within a central rectangular frame, accompanied by extensive Latin keys below. Figures I and II depict partial dissections of the eye socket and eyelid tissues, showing the musculature in situ. Figures III and IV illustrate the eyeball in isolation, with the rectus and oblique muscles extending outward like spokes from the globe. Figure V focuses on the posterior view of the eye, highlighting the optic nerve and complex muscle attachments. The entire plate is rendered in black ink line-etching on a white ground, typical of early 17th-century medical illustration.
This print is an anatomical plate from Robert Fludd’s 'Utriusque Cosmi Maioris scilicet et Minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia' (1617–1621), a seminal work in the Rosicrucian and Hermetic traditions that seeks to map the human body as a microcosm of the divine macrocosm. It represents the intersection of early modern empirical observation and Renaissance Neoplatonic natural philosophy.
Inscriptions(Latin)
TABVLA XIV. DE OCVLI MVSCVLIS, QVAE QVINQVE figuris infignitur in quarum Prima, musculi oculi in sua sede explicantur. Secunda ostenditur oculum sursum revolutum, quo alij musculi conspiciantur. Tertia & quarta musculos oculi separatos cum suis neruis exhibet. Quinta representat oculum bonis, cum musculis suis separatis. TAB. XXI LIB. III. A.Palpebra.B.Tarsus. C.Palpebram attollens musculus. 1.3.4. D.Musculus oculi rectus superior, in 3.& 4.cum neruo. 2.3.4. E.Musculus oculi rectus inferior in 3.& 4.cum neruo. 1.2.3.4.F.Musculus oculi rectus externus. 1.2.3.4.G.Musculus oculi rectus internus. 1.2.3.4.H.Musculus obliquus superior seu troclea, cuius tendo est a.troclea vero est b. 2.3.4. I.Musculus oculi obliquus inferior. 1.3. K.Est neruus opticus. 1.2. a.Musculi obliqui superioris tendo. 1.2. b.Troclea dicta, cartilago exigua per quam tendo hic transit, & in 3.& 4.ab osse reuulsa. 3.4.c.c.c.c.c.Sunt nerui oculorum motorii. 5. α.β.Palpebrae musculus secundus in oculi cauitate latens, cuius latus tendo β. in palpebram inferitur. 5. δ.ε.Musculi duo recti oculum sursum deorfumque trahentes. 5. ζ.η.Recti duo ad latus dextrum & sinistrum mouentes. 5. θ.B.Obliqui duo leuiter circumagentes. 5. κ.Musculus 7.qui in plures diuidi potest. 5. λ.Neruus opticus. CAPVT
Translation
TABLE XIV. ON THE MUSCLES OF THE EYE, which is marked by five figures, in which: The first, the muscles of the eye are explained in their seat. The second shows the eye turned upward, by which other muscles may be seen. The third & fourth exhibit the muscles of the eye separated with their nerves. The fifth represents the eye [viewed from the back], with its muscles separated. [Labels for anatomical parts follow, such as 'Eyelid', 'Optic nerve', etc.]
Connected Texts
Robert Fludd
This plate is an illustration from his multi-volume encyclopedia 'Utriusque Cosmi'.
Provenance & Source
Object
etching
laid paper
Baroque
German
anatomical
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
490 × 820 px
Linked Data