Art historian Taylor McCall dismantles the common belief that Renaissance figures such as Leonardo da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius founded the field of human anatomy. Assisted by vivid medieval illustrations, she argues that the earliest anatomical images date from the twelfth century, in monasteries and then early universities. Her scholarly book, the first in this field, aims to show that such imagery is "its own visual language", by exploring anatomy in religious contexts, medical teaching and practice, and the work of professional artists.