Govard Bidloo

This illustration by Gerard de Lairesse was published in 1685 as one of 105 plates in the anatomical atlas of Dutch physician, playwright, and poet Govard Bidloo (1649-1713). The book was then plagiarized by English surgeon William Cowper in his 1698 Anatomy of the Humane Bodies, which gave no credit to either Bidloo or de Lairesse and made enemies of both. Bidloo studied under Fredrik Ruysch (more on him later) and became personal physician to England's King William III, who died in his arms.