Wellcome Collection
A human head dissected: "In memoriam". Acrylic painting by R. Ennis, 2001. The painting was painted as a memorial to a friend of the painter who had died of squamous cell carcinoma, manifested in cancer first of the lip and subsequently of much of the face. Rather than paint a traditional memento mori, the artist decided to create something more positive: an anatomical tribute to the complexity and beauty of the human head. For the anatomical details the artist based his composition on small wax models at La Specola in Florence, while also consulting a pathologist and a surgeon about the layering of the various organs crammed together into the head.
Richard. Ennis
