[Cross Section of a Human Body]

1920s
Not on view
This life-size study of the human body, printed on blueprint paper, simultaneously maps both the body's hard [bone] and soft tissues [organs]. Standard x-ray images are incapable of recording soft tissue and thus it is believed that this photograph was made from a thin, perhaps frozen, human cross section. This extraordinary image is both a literal description of human form and a scientific representation of human function.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: [Cross Section of a Human Body]
  • Artist: Unknown
  • Date: 1920s
  • Medium: Cyanotype
  • Dimensions: 90.8 x 35.2 cm (35 3/4 x 13 7/8 in. )
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1996
  • Object Number: 1996.351
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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