e humani corporis fabrica – in English, The Fabric of the Human Body – set the standard for all future anatomical atlantes with its structure and its depiction in words and images of the various systems of the human body. The work’s seven sections – or books, in Vesalius’ Latin – were written and sketched near Padua, Italy, where Vesalius had become a professor.

This magnum opus was printed in 1543 with painstaking care in one large volume by the highly regarded printer Johannes Oporinus of Basel, Switzerland. Delve into the substance of the Fabrica to learn about the context of the book and the impact it has had on so many generations.

The magnificent tables of the Fabrica, of which the artist is still uncertain