Many scientific and medical images require a significant level of training to understand, and are not therefore produced with the broader public in mind. There is, for example, little need to consider the non-specialist when producing a Feynman diagrams or chemical structural formula, since the audience of such images are likely to be practicing physicists or chemists themselves.

However, anatomical representations are noteworthy in that they are frequently viewed by non-specialists. After all, everyone has a body, and at various points in our lives many of us become increasingly curious about its structure. It is therefore no surprise, in the context of such a diverse audience, that the conventions that go into producing these representations differ from those found in more exclusive representations.

This talk will explore the structural and stylistic conventions regarding anatomical representations in the context of their multiple audiences. In examining anatomical atlases, wax models, and the plastinations used in the contemporary “Body Worlds” exhibitions, I will identify and discuss the graphical decisions involved in anatomical representations, and their epistemic consequences.