Arnaud Eloi Gautier d'Agoty (French, 1741-1780) Anatomical Studies: Plates VI and VIII, from Cours complet d'anatomie by Nicolas Jadot Two mezzotints in colours, 1773, on heavy laid paper, with anatomical key written in pen and ink in the lateral margins, framed Plate 545 x 398mm (21 1/2 x 15 5/8in) Sheet 670 x 520mm (26 3/8 x 20 1/2in) (2) Footnotes: The Gautier d'Agoty family of artists were known for their colour mezzotints of scientific and anotomical studies from the 1740s onwards, when the interest in, and understanding of, medical research was flourishing. The patriarch, Jacques-Fabien, learned the trichromatic printing method (using blue, yellow and red plates) from his teacher Jacob Christoph Le Blon. Jacques-Fabien later introduced a fourth plate for black ink, establishing the four-colour process and received the royal licence for colour printing in France in 1742. He studied with a Parisian surgeon, Guichard Duverney, to produce complex and detailed anatomical depictions of the body. His second son, Arnaud Eloi, produced fifteen plates for the Cours complet d'anatomie. Tone and three dimensionality are achieved through the layering of the mezzotint plates and the large format is employed for dramatic effect. The works were not to everyone's taste but Duverney was impressed, commenting 'Colour printing can nowhere make a greater contribution to scientific understanding than in anatomy.' For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing