The programme will be updated in January 2026. We kindly invite you to check this page for the latest information.
Last update: 15 December 2025
Thursday, 7 May 2026 – ART AND ANATOMY
Location: Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, Blindestraat 35, Antwerp
- 09:15 - Registration Day 1
- 09:45 – Welcome - Peter Bols, Dean, UAntwerp Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences
Session I – The Artist and the Anatomical Body
Chair: Ann Van de Velde & Joachim De Block
- 10:00 - Inventing a canon. Artistic choices and strategies in order to properly represent the anatomised body in Vesalius's Fabrica - Eleonora Del Riccio
- 10:30 - Artistic Anatomy and Scientific Illustration at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice - Roberta Ballestriero
11:00–11:30 – Coffee Break
Session II – Artistic Practices in Anatomy
Chair: Pascale Pollier & Mariella Devos
- 11:30 – Anatomy in Wax - Eleanor Crook
- 12:00 – Medical Art: Observation and Techniques - Joanna Cameron
- 12:30 – Dr Tulps lesson and dissection of the forearm - Wendy Birch
13:00-14:00 - Lunch
Session III – Dissection in Practice
Chair: Pascale Pollier & Ann Van de Velde
- 14:00– Under the Knife: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Joannes van Buyten (1648) as a unique Source of Information about Surgery Lessons in Early Modern Antwerp - Beatrijs Wolters van der Wey
- 14:30 - Arm Dissection - Francis Van Glabbeek & Tom Quisenaerts
- 17:30 – End Day 1
19:00 – Speakers’ Dinner at Hof Van Liere
Friday, 8 May 2026 – HISTORY AND ANATOMY
Location: Grauwzusters Convention Center, Lange Sint-Annastraat 7, Antwerp
- 08:15 - Registration Day 2
- 08:45 – Welcome - Bob Van Hee
Session IV – Theatrum Anatomicum
Chair: Marc De Roeck & Guido Sold
09:00 – In the footsteps of his forefathers in Wesel: Andreas Vesalius’s origins - Guido Sold
09:30 – From obscura sutura to the Archetype: Vesalius, Goethe, and the Theatrical Staging of Anatomical Knowledge - Theo Dirix
10:00 – Connecting Art and Anatomy in Italy - Kevin Petti
10:30–11:00 – Coffee Break
Session V – Anatomical Illustration
Chair: Francis Van Glabbeek & Ann Van de Velde
11:00 – Vesalius's Epitome (1543), an illustrated compendium of anatomy - Monique Kornell
11:30 – The use of sculptures in anatomical theatres - Christine Beese and Marie Krüger
12:00 – Books V and VI of Vesalius's Fabrica: First dissection manuals - Jacqueline Vons
12:30–13:30 – Lunch & Poster Viewing
Session VI – Education through Visual Representation
Chair: Guido Sold & Marc De Roeck
13:30 – Vesalian knowledge spread throughout Asia into Japan - Daniel Margócsy
14:00 – Metaphors for the Wandering Womb and the "Hysteria Tradition" in Early Modern France: The Impact of Vesalius - Alison Klairmont Lingo
14:30 – Itinerant bodies: Anatomy and medicine at the fairground, nineteenth-twentieth century - Gitte Samoy
15:00–15:30 – Coffee Break
Session VII – Academic Framework: Texts, Courses, and Examinations
Chair: Bob Van Hee & Pascale Pollier
15:30 – Audiences and anatomical learning after Vesalius's Fabrica - Louis Caron
16:00 – Niccolò Massa’s first letter on Vesalius - Vivian Nutton
16:30 – Anatomy Education in Leuven - Speaker TBC
16:45 – Conclusion - Francis Van Glabbeek
17:00 – Piano Recital - Elke Robersscheuten & Theo Dirix
17:30 – Poster Session / Reception
18:15 onwards – Walking Dinner (Grauwzusters)
Saturday, 9 May 2026 – CARE AND ANATOMY
(Optional, to be paid separately)
Location: Heilige Geeststraat 21, Antwerp
- 10:00 – Inside the Lambotte Museum: A Guided Visit to the CARITAS AND ARS MEDICA Exhibition
- 11:00 – Adjourn