GLR May-June 2025

Sappol’s strongest argument comes with the illus trations of English surgeon and anatomist Joseph Maclise (1815–1880). Sappol stretches documen tary innuendo to the extreme to find some hint that Maclise was homosexual. The best we have is that he was a difficult character and a lifelong bachelor. However, his illustrations do almost speak for themselves. He mostly drew men unless he needed to illustrate female anatomy. This is not probatory, because male cadavers (particularly of executed criminals) were most easily available. Addition ally, longstanding sexism dictated that men were the prototype of human. (In Genesis , Godmakes Adam first and Eve as an afterthought.) Maclise devotes enormous attention to the men’s faces, even though there’s no pedagogical reason to show them at all. It is proof of Maclise’s skill as an artist and lends credence to the accuracy of his dissec tions. Yet, the beauty of these dead faces—one of which Sappol rightly compares to a crucified Christ—betrays Maclise’s queerness… or mine.

The Missionaries

I’m splattered in ink, sweatpants, Four Roses T-shirt.

artistic merit of his selection of prints is evident. (He also in cludes a few paintings and drawings to bolster his argument about connoisseurs.) Sixteenth-century woodcuts give way to copper plate engravings and mezzotints from the 17th and 18th centuries that are masterworks of the craft—the detail and shad ing are spectacular! Lithography (invented in 1796) allowed for less costly, yet almost photorealistic, images. Plus, some of the prints were in large formats. Whether included in a book or sold by subscription, they would have been expensive. Who could afford these prints? Sappol argues that wealthy collectors—per haps mostly physicians and surgeons—had a queer eye for them. Citing a variety of illustrated and print sources, he argues for the queerness of connoisseurship of these bewigged and beribboned gentlemen who gathered to show off their collec tions. Perhaps it was the origin of the old pickup line: “Come up and see my etchings!” Yet, if all homosocial institutions and gatherings are suspected of being “queer,” then all medical and art schools, as well as most clubs, were hotbeds of homoeroti cism until the late 19th century, when women were finally ad mitted to these fellowships. Maybe they were, who knows? The challenge for all LGBT historians working on pre-Vic torian material is that forbidden genders and sexualities tend to be hidden (unless there were public scandals or arrest records). Sappol has no documentary evidence of homosexuality: no compromising correspondence by anatomists, no anatomical depictions of sodomy, no cum stains on etchings. He does, how ever, present us with an impressive collection of penises. These are intriguing in their gratuitousness. They are needed when the illustration depicts surgery of the groin, genitals, or urinary sys tem. Otherwise, both male and female genitals were discretely draped. Their inclusion for no educational reason is indeed queer (i.e., unusual). Two male thighs touching each other might save space on the page, or they might be suggestively sexy. Al though Sappol doesn’t mention it, even more gratuitous is the depiction of scrotal hairs! Queer studies has often been an artful exercise in erotic pro jection onto an LGBT scholar’s own obsession: TV shows, Mar vel heroes, Norse sagas. At the risk of betraying my own tastes, Do you need to borrow a phone? Are they feeding you enough? Is your coat warm enough? The children say goodbye and trudge through the snow. Every religion believes in peace and love to some extent, I think. Tonight I’m wishing peace and love to all the little missionaries and their mothers, even if they don’t always wish it for me. M ORRIS M C L ENNAN A couple of children in their Sunday best knock on my door. They haven’t practiced their introductions very much yet. I offer them water. As you can see, I’m a hedonistic transsexual with no desire to be saved.

Whether readers are totally convinced about the homoeroti cism of 18th- and 19th-century anatomical illustration and the sophisticated collectors trading in them, a range of LGBT read ers may relish Queer Anatomies . Gay physicians and æsthetes of all stripes will enjoy Sappol’s chatty style, peppered with winking asides, and appreciate his deep scholarship and inti mate familiarity with anatomical art.

May–June 2025

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