The exhibit includes startling objects like a wax injected human heart, a model of a head with neck muscles exposed and a sculpture of the body's nervous system.
The works were done by artists and used by doctors.
Robert Cozzolino, a curator of modern art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts says, "The whole picture will hopefully illuminate people and show them, again, what we think is the right side and the left side of the brain, science and art, actually work together a lot in Philadelphia."
There's also a series of body part sculptures made around 1808 by William Rush, one of America's first professional sculptors and a founder of PAFA. The sculptures were teaching tools for the Wistar Institute.
"But they transcend that. They became pieces that are mysterious, exciting to look at, small portions of the body blown up and painted and I think they look very fresh here", Cozzolino commented.
The centerpiece is Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic. While most of the works are historic, there are a few contemporary pieces. One by a German collective called TODT is a critical look at the mass production of medicine, while another by Philly based sculptor Donald Lipski is a more playful depiction of dancing skeletons.
Donald Lipski, sculptor of Broad Street Boogie Woogie says,"Artists and scientists are really very similar .We're all delving into things, trying to find truths."
Anatomy Academy runs through April 17th. For more information, go to PAFA dot org.
