An imaginary other

Abstract

This research paper focuses on a specific period in western art history. The eighteenth and ninteenth centuries held fascination for the author as it marked the beginnings of modern science, a time when the artist and scientist collaborated in a mythical search for a key to unlock the mysterious realm to the unknown. The artist/scientist set on course to discover a new frontier thought to be buried somewhere in woman's body.The paper has been formulated into three chapters. The author has examined how the representation of the body of woman was reduced to a stereotype in both art and science. By examining eight images, she has sought to expose the subjective nature of the artists/anatomists' investigation during this period in history and reveal how art and science formed a complicit alliance in the misrepresentation of the body of woman. Her body became the site and the chosen medium for the projected fears and phantasies of the male imaginary

Date of Award	1997
Original language	English