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Cover Legend: Tete d'un Homme, etc., color engraving from Myologie Complette En Couleur Et Grandeur Naturelle (1746), Jacques-Fabien Gautier-d'Agoty (1717–1785). Colored copperplates were introduced by Jacques-Christophe Le Blon (1667–1741), but it was his assistant Jacques-Fabien Gautier-d'Agoty who first printed anatomical plates in color on a large scale. When Le Blon died, Gautier-d'Agoty initiated a successful campaign to claim title of "inventor of color printed pictures." The claim (Sept. 5, 1741) was announced in the Mercure de France and was accompanied by a list of 21 color-printed images for sale. Gautier-d'Agoty used a technique similar to mezzotint to print folio after folio of anatomical zoological and natural historical prints. His son, Arnaud-Éloi, joined him later in this effort. Gautier-d'Agoty generally used four separate plates, three for color impressions and one for black-and-white line drawings, to yield images in "natural color and size." However, as these anatomical prints took more liberties than the black-and-white engravings of conventional manuals, they were not considered accurate enough for the dissecting table. The father also ventured into pure science, offering dissident notions of time, perception, and the cosmos. His notions led to an unlikely anecdote: In 1785, Jacques-Fabien quarreled with officials of the Dijon Academy, of which he was a member. Tempers rose to such a degree that the secretary arranged for his exclusion. Learning of his dismissal through its published announcement, Jacques-Fabien "suffered a collapse, and died soon after." His son Arnaud-Éloi described the dilemma of an anatomical illustrator in the preface to one of his own folios: "for men to be instructed, they must be seduced by the aesthetics, but how can anyone render the image of death agreeable?" Gautier-d'Agoty and son resolved the dilemma by creating images of lasting beauty. Image courtesy of Jean-Pierre Changeux from Les Lumieres, an exhibit by Jean Pierre Changeux (Nancy, France, December 2006); catalogue published by Odile Jacob, Paris, France, 2006.
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