Queer Anatomies with Michael Sappol

On Tuesday 25 February, as part of LGBT+ History Month, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) Museum will host American historian of the visual culture of medicine and science, Michael Sappol, to discuss his new book Queer Anatomies.

Sexual body-parts and same-sex desire were unrepresentable in 18th- and 19th-century print culture. Yet one science – anatomy – had license to picture intimate details of the naked human body, rectum and genitalia included. The anatomical image could be soberly technical, but also monstrous, flirtatious, theatrical, transgressive – and sensual.

Anatomy was a foundational subject in art academies, schools of medicine and the encyclopedic curriculum of Enlightenment discourse. Philosophical, medical and aesthetic competence all depended on a secure knowledge of anatomy and its texts – which offered unique opportunities for perverse erotic representation. Join this illustrated talk in person or online to explore this often-overlooked archive of closeted queer expression given appreciative consideration in Queer Anatomies.

The in-person evening will include a drinks reception and chance to explore a display of some of the original source materials held in the RCP archive and heritage library.