The human body has long been central to Western art, and in order to represent the body in all its manifestations many artists have studied anatomy: dissecting the dead to better depict the living. The Quick and the Dead focuses on a range of artists, among them Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Albrecht Dürer, William Hogarth, George Stubbs, Théodore Géricault, Kiki Smith, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Cindy Sherman to show the great richness and complexity that can result when art and science intersect. The drawings, prints, photographs, and objects in this book span five centuries and mark numerous cultural shifts, yet their imagery is as powerful today as when it was created.

A national touring exhibition organised by the Hayward Gallery, London, for the Arts Council of England. Exhibition tour: Royal College of Art, London, Oct. 28-Nov. 24, 1997, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Jan. 10-Mar. 14, 1998, Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds, Mar. 28-May 24, 1998.