Authors
Grace Linden, University of York
Shannon Egan, Gettysburg College
Files
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Document Type
Art Catalog
Description
Coronal Plane is the culmination of Millett’s research on the anatomical theater at the University of Padua built in 1594, the oldest surviving anatomy theater in the world. The installation allows viewers to walk into and through a space that evokes physical, emotional, and psychological reactions similar to those experienced in the historic anatomy theater in Padua by audiences of the past. Illustrations depicted on red “windows” in Millett’s work are appropriated from De Formato Foetu, a text written by Girolamo Fabrizi d’Acquapendente (Hieronymus Fabricius), the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Padua. It was under his leadership that the anatomy theater of 1594 was built. Millett’s allusions to Catholic confessionals and kneeling benches in the installation invite the viewer to question the contradictory stance between surgeries performed for medical education and dissections completed in order to disperse sacred remains for widespread worship. Particular references to sexuality and sexual differences are also central to Millett’s investigation of historical medical practices and philosophies. The University of Padua was one of the first institutions that dissected both male and female cadavers.
Publication Date
Winter 2018
Publisher
Schmucker Art Gallery, Gettysburg College
City
Gettysburg, PA
Keywords
anatomical theater, University of Padua, medicine, anatomy
Recommended Citation
Linden, Grace and Egan, Shannon, "Coronal Plane: Cristin Millett" (2018). Schmucker Art Catalogs. 27.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/27
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Art and Design Commons, Fine Arts Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons
Comments
Coronal Plane: Cristin Millett was on exhibition at the Schmucker Art Gallery at Gettysburg College January 26th - March 9th, 2018.