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Vesalius dissects a human corpse in a crowded lecture theatre. Onlookers climb the pillars and lean over the balcony for a better view. He looks directly at the reader and points to the dissected abdomen as if to draw attention to the fact that he is forging new ground in the study of anatomy. The animals in the foreground - a monkey (left) and a dog and ram (right) – are a reminder, perhaps, that Galen, the authority on human anatomy for centuries, dissected only animals.