Denis Diderot and Robert Bénard: Eighteenth-Century Anatomical Studies
Robert Bénard in Denis Diderot, Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Geneva: Chet Pelet, 1777-79. Le Squelette vû de côté Figure 2 Denis Diderot. “Anatomie,” and "Chirurgie," in Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Geneva: Chet Pelet, 1777-79.
The three engravings presented are part of the “Anatomie” engraving collection composed by Robert Bénard. The first engraving on Pl. 2 is titled, “Anatomie, Le Squelette vû de côté”, which in English translates to “Anatomy, the skeleton seen from the side”. The second engraving on Pl. 4 is labeled “Anatomie, Ecorché vû de face”, which translates to “Anatomy, cutaway seen from the front”. Lastly, the third engraving on Pl. 8 is labeled “Anatomie, Les Arteres”, which translates to “Anatomy, the arteries”. Robert Bénard was a famous French artist who is best known for over 1,800 dedicated pieces to Diderot’s Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Although the formal location and time of where these engravings were created is unknown, the George Glazer Gallery identifies that Paris in the 18th century was the primary location and time.
The exact material of the plates used to create “Anatomie, Le Squelette vû de côté”, “Anatomie, Ecorché vû de face”, and “Anatomie, Les Arteres” are unknown. In an informative article from The University of Adelaide, it is stated that copper, brass, and bronze were all potential materials used to create detailed engravings in France in the 18th century. The three engravings from Robert Bénard are contributes to Diderot and Alembert’s Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. The Encyclopédie was inspired by Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia and the success of it. In 1745, French publisher, André Le Breton, joined alongside mathematician, Jean d’Alembert, and translator/philosopher, Denis Diderot, to create the Encyclopédie. The publication was rejected instantaneously by conservative ecclesiastics and government officials (Britannica Encyclopedia 2021). The suppression of several volumes was ultimately due to the Jesuit censorship of illustrations and texts. This formally condemned the publication in 1759 and for several years thereafter. Diderot later persuaded publishers proceed with publications of uncontroversial texts and engraved plates. This publication included volume 1 through volume 8 in Paris. Onward from volume 8, volume 9 - volume 17 were published in Neufchâtel, Switzerland due to exempt censorship laws (Britannica Encyclopedia 2021). In an article written by professor/author, Robert Niklaus, he states, “To the 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plates (1751-27), Diderot contributed innumerable articles partly original, partly derived from varied sources, especially on the history of philosophy (“Eclectisme” [“Eclecticism”], social theory (“Droit naturel” [“Natural Law”], aesthetics (“Beau” [“The Beautiful”]), and the crafts and industries of France” (Niklaus 2022).
The Encyclopédie was published to inform the public upon areas of government, philosophy, religion, and biology and to challenge the general way of thinking but the price limited access. MIT's Introduction to the Encyclopédie created a timeline of the increase in price: “Subscribers were initially charged 280 livres, but over the years, as the work expanded in size, the cost rose to a total of 980 livres, and by the end of the 1700’s, copies of this first folio edition of text and plates sold for 1200 to 1500 livres-‘For reference, ‘(1 livre is equal to one day’s wages for manual laborer in the eighteenth century)”’(MIT Libraries Exhibits).
The first engraving on Pl. 2 titled, “Anatomie, Le Squelette vû de côté”, shows the skeletal anatomy of a human. Each bone is accompanied by a number or letter that correlates to a key within the Encyclopédie. The second engraving on Pl. 4, “Anatomie, Ecorché vû de face”, is a muscular system diagram shown from a frontal view. Lastly, the third engraving on Pl. 8, “Anatomie, Les Arteres”, is again, a frontal view of the human anatomy, showing the vascular system in an abstract way. The arteries in the dorsal region are presented in a “tree-like” structure, which allows the viewer to see the arteries without being condensed in the small areas of the head and neck.
The engravings presented in the Encyclopédie, ou, Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers connect to William Hogarth’s, The Reward of Cruelty [Anatomy], 1751. Though intended as satire and commentary on the medical profession, Hogarth's "The Reward of Cruelty" demonstrates the processes of how Robert Bénard was able to compose the “Anatomie” collection. Through public humiliation of dissection, medical professionals and artists were able to break-down the human anatomy composition into fine details.
- Elexa Miller, Spring '23
The engravings titled, “Chirurgie” on Plates 17 and 18 are found in Denis Diderot’s Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers from 1777-79. Denis Diderot was a French philosopher and believed the Dictionary of the Sciences could be put together and include all of what was known at the time in order to disperse a wealth of knowledge throughout the public and share that knowledge with generations to come. The encyclopedia faced much scrutiny from the church as much of its content was seen as contrary to the views of the church. In fact, when the encyclopedia was published, the publisher removed some of the information it contained without the knowledge of Diderot (Washington University Libraries 2017). The engravings themselves were done by Robert Bénard and while it is not known what materials the engravings were made from, one of the most common materials used to make engravings in eighteenth-century France was copper (Stein 2014).
In the first engraving labeled Plate 17, a man can be seen preforming a trephination procedure which consists of creating a hole in the skull by either cutting or drilling into it in order to treat a head injury or mental illness. The man is presumed to be Jean-Louis Petit, a French surgeon from the 18th century, as he invented a number of the surgical tools that can be seen surrounding the procedure shown on plate 17 as well as the surgical tools shown on Plate 18 (Heister 1743, 54). In regard to Plate 17, one of the notable surgical instruments shown is seen in figure 10, which is a triangular plate invented by Mr. Petit and is used in procedures to reopen or make a wound’s opening larger in order to clean and heal the wound and prevent the formation of a fistula (Heister 1743, 54). The instruments shown on Plate 18 are ones used by Mr. Petit to form a better understanding of blood vessels in the human body. Figure 1 shows the tourniquet that Mr. Petit invented that can be placed on a patient without the need for constant monitoring. The most notable difference in Mr. Petit’s tourniquet is that it will not disrupt the circulation in the patient unlike other methods that were used at the time (Heister 1743, 66). Other surgical tools on plate 18 include Figure 2: a band that is used to attach the tourniquet to the limb, figure 3: a Chamois pad that is to be applied circularly to the limb, and figure 4: the ball that follows the path of the vessels.
The release of the encyclopedia preceded the medical revolution and medical philosophy at the time was still based on classical ideologies put in place by Hippocrates and Galen (Snowden 2019, 204). A trephination procedure consists of creating a hole in the skull by either cutting or drilling into it in order to treat a head injury or mental illness. The procedure can be dated all the way back to ancient times, with the first documented trephination being recorded by Hippocrates who was alive in 460-355 BCE. Hippocrates, Heliodorus, and Galen proposed the use of trephination in cases of closed head traumas or fractures of the skull (Ghannaee Arani, Fakharian, & Sarbandi, 2012). In Ancient Greece, trephination was predominantly performed on males that had experienced a head injury, with a survival rate of 62.9% (Aidonis, Papavramidou, Moraitis, & Papageorgopoulou, 2021).
The use of trephination in Ancient Greece can be tied to Hippocrates and his belief in the four humors. Hippocrates believed that the body was filled with four humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm) (Lagay, 2002). If these humors were out of balance, Hippocrates believed this could explain illness in a person. Trephination was used with the aim to relieve pressure in the head and restore the balance of the humors in the body, and Diderot’s engraving provides a look into the tools and methods used for this procedure in the eighteenth century.
- Tegan, Hammell, Fall, '23
Denis Diderot's Encyclopédie stands as a monumental work of the Enlightenment, as it captures the era's dedication to knowledge and understanding. In particular, the "Chirurgie" section reflects a comprehensive effort to document the medical practices of the time, specifically the details of breast cancer surgery. This section is part of a larger representation of medical advancements in the "Encyclopédie," which includes important discussions on procedures such as inoculation, which faced opposition from the Paris medical faculty despite its simplicity and effectiveness as highlighted by Voltaire (Bodleian Libraries, The Case of Surgery). The Encyclopédie's creation was fraught with danger. Diderot, crucial to its development, was imprisoned, prompting his publishers to plead for his release. For instance, they write “The detention of Mr. Diderot, the only man of letters we know capable of such a vast undertaking and who alone holds the key to this entire operation, could lead to our ruin” (Letter, Le Breton, David, Durand, & Briasson, July 1749). Their letter conveys the dire consequences of his absence and exemplifies the era's clash between Enlightenment ideals and censorship.
However, the images within the “Chirurgie” section show the medical knowledge and techniques of the eighteenth century. They depict the grim realities of surgical intervention without anesthesia: a surgical instrument possibly used for tumor excision, the disfigured torso post-mastectomy, and the bandaged body following surgery. These visuals show the challenges faced by both practitioners and patients in an era before modern medical advancements.
Lorenz Heister's A General System of Surgery (1745) provides a parallel narrative to the "Chirurgie" section of Diderot's "Encyclopédie," with detailed images and descriptions of surgical procedures, such as the extirpation of cancerous breasts. Heister details the process, stating, "When the whole Breast is therefore become cancerous, and to be totally extirpated, the principal Ways of performing the Operation are (1) by placing the Patient in a proper Seat; and according to SCULTETUS, to pass a large Needle armed with a strong Thread or Cord" (Heister, Section IV, Chapter CVII, 15, 1745). This meticulous technique was described in an age devoid of anesthesia, emphasizing the patient's ordeal and the surgeon's skillful hand. Heister further elaborates on the surgical instruments designed to reduce the patient's trauma, describing that "Hevelius has endeavored to abate the fame by contriving Pliers instead of a Fork, one of which holds up the disordered Breast by its two Points, AA, the other squeezes up the whole Breast between its Sides, AB, by which Means it may be commodiously elevated, and evenly divided by a large Knife" (Heister, Section IV, Chapter CVII, 15, 1745). The lack of anesthesia necessitated quick and precise operations to reduce suffering. The challenges faced by both practitioners and patients during this era are conveyed through Heister's descriptions, which serve to highlight the significant progress in surgical methods and patient care over time.
Diderot's Encyclopédie and Heister's treatise together show the evolution of medical understanding, particularly in the treatment of breast cancer. They reflect a profound transformation in public understanding of health and disease. This is significant as it uncovers the level of medical knowledge during Diderot's era, emphasizing the "importance of observation and experience over traditional dogma" (Zalta, 2019) in the progression of medical practices. The intended audience of these works likely encompassed both medical professionals seeking to enhance their knowledge and skills and the educated elite interested in the scientific advances of their time. These detailed and meticulously illustrated medical texts were a tool for education and a reflection of the growing public engagement with scientific knowledge.
In conclusion, Diderot's Encyclopédie is an essential source for understanding medical knowledge of the eighteenth century. The work's detailed illustrations and descriptions of breast cancer surgery offer an invaluable glimpse into the period's medical practices and the broader Enlightenment context that prized empirical evidence and the dissemination of knowledge.
- Ellie O’Leary, Fall, '23
Found in the Dictionnaire of the Sciences or, the Dictionnaire Raisonee des Sciences des Arts et des Metiers, Denis Diderot’s engravings of surgical procedures and instruments illustrate surgical medicine during the mid-eighteenth century in Europe. Denis Diderot was a French editor from Langres France who published the Encyclopédie from 1745 to 1772. Diderot wrote treatises on natural science. Plate Thirty, seen here, part of Denis Diderot's collection “Chirurgie” shows general instructions for a variety of bandages and suture techniques. The intended audience is the educated elite or doctors who used these techniques to properly manage bleeding with the use of bandages and sutures.
In this piece, we see that the letter 'd' represents tourniquets placed on the limbs high and tight. A tourniquet is not applied on a joint and is applied near the point of injury to stop any excessive bleeding, this process can be excruciating for the patient. The head bandage wraps from the top of the head to the chin and then wraps around the forehead which provides pressure to the wound preventing any more blood from escaping. Letter 'b' represents the thoracic wrap and letter 'c' is a scapular wrap or a shoulder wrap that stabilizes or immobilizes a fractured shoulder. Letter 'e' appears to be a spiral wrap to either immobilize a sprain or fracture, or it can help with edema by applying pressure through bandages to release built-up fluid in the body. Letter 'g' appears to be a figure-eight wrap to immobilize a sprain or fracture in the foot. Along with the bandages they display various methods of sutures used during this period shown in the top right corner. Figures five through eight are single or double dry sutures and figures nine & ten are single and double stitch sutures. Meanwhile, figure eleven is a triple stitch suture at an angle. Finally, the picture also represents surgical instruments such as bullet forceps (Fig. 4), curved forceps which will help tie a knot in the suture (Fig. 2), and beaked scissors which cut the synthetic suture after each knot (Fig. 3).
The small wounds required no sutures from surgeons, only the larger and deeper flesh wounds. The eight surgical treaties wrote that bandages help treat the inflammation of hands, legs, and arms by providing a compress to the limbs (Wiseman, R. 1705). It was also mentioned that bandages help splint limbs back into their former shape by compressing them. Surgery relates to the history of bandages and sutures because surgery will end with sutures to close the wound after cutting open the flesh and is covered with a compress along with bandages to help heal sutures. Wounds, fractures, tumors, etc all use instruments or bandages to treat them and prevent blood loss. According to Hippocrates "We must apply violent remedies."(James, R. 1743-45) Tourniquets are violent and painful remedies that are one of the only ways to help stop massive bleeding. Hippocrates wrote that bandages and compresses are important in controlling the loss of blood and helping heal wounds.
In conclusion, this engraving highlights the historical background of bandages and their importance in preventing bleeding out, stabilizing fractures, aiding in retrieving bullet fragments, and suturing deep lacerations. With this image as a guide, doctors were knowledgeable on how to prevent bleeding out during diseases by learning how to suture wounds and apply bandages to prevent infection.
- Ashe Sines, Fall, '23