Drawing for plate XIII in William Hunter, The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus

This chapter explores particular paintings by male artists which work with images of female physiology; like the previous chapter, it is grounded in the view that a categorisation of the male artist as inalienable, ahistorical and monumental which is a feature of the historiography of art is untenable in today’s analysis of visual culture of the past...

William Hunter commenced his study of the anatomy of the human gravid uterus in the winter of 1750–51, a project that has continued to define his medical reputation to the present day. He had arrived in London in 1740 to apprentice himself to William Smellie (1697–1763) and acquire the obstetric skills required of a successful provincial doctor. Though Smellie eventually...