Van Calcar was a Fleming, a native of Kalcker in the Duchy of Cleves. The date of his birth is not known. His death occurred at Naples in 1546. He was highly esteemed by Vesalius who speaks of him as ranking “with the divine and happy wits of Italy”. The anatomical plates which Vesalius issued in 1538 were made, he states, by van Calcar:—_sumptibus Joannis Stephani Calcarensis_. These plates, which appeared in the form of pictorial broad sheets, or _Fliegende Blätter_, may be likened to the Herald who goes in advance to announce the coming of the King. They were engraved on wood, and, like their companion pictures in the _Fabrica_, they were unprecedented in magnitude and in minuteness. [Illustration: SECOND VESALIAN PLATE OF THE MUSCLES (From the “Fabrica”, 1543. Reduced one-half)] The Vesalian plates vary greatly in merit. The most satisfactory ones are those depicting the undissected body and the bones and muscles. The artist was not at his best in drawing the nervous system, although it is claimed that Vesalius had prepared his neurologic specimens with great care. For the use of artists, the best plates are the three skeletons and the four entire myologic figures in the _Fabrica_. The first myologic figure, showing a man who has been divested of all skin, fat, and superficial fascia, presents the muscles of the anterior portion of the body beautifully delineated. Vesalius took much pride in this plate, and directed the attention of artists to it. The second plate, which is constructed along similar lines, shows the body in its lateral aspect. The head is thrown slightly backward, the right hand pointing to the earth and the left raised towards the horizon, and the whole attitude of the subject calls to mind the position which an orator would assume when addressing an audience. The third myologic plate is similar to the first one, but the muscles of the face are exhibited to better advantage and the aponeuroses, absent in the first plate, are here present. The fourth plate, which is the ninth in Vesalius’s work (_nona musculorum tabula_), presents the muscles of the posterior part of the body. The other myologic figures show the deeper muscles, layer by layer, and are of value to an artist who wishes to study the effect of their action upon the superficial parts of the body. Hence many of these figures have been reproduced in works on art-anatomy. The artist who studies these plates should remember that the figures in question are divested of skin, fat, and superficial veins—all of which must be supplied, in order to avoid giving too great prominence to the muscles. The two naked figures contained in the _Epitome_ are properly clothed in skin and are of great artistic merit. They also are to be seen in numerous works on art-anatomy. Thus, in one of the earliest books on anatomy for the use of artists (_Abrégé d’anatomie accommodé aux arts de peinture et de sculpture._ Paris, 1667, 1668), Rogers de Piles and François Tortebat