ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book demonstrates how the actual work undertaken by artists associated with the Royal Academy's teaching reflected a diverse and varied range, rather than a polarised, institutionalised method. Hunter's friends and acquaintances were involved in radical politics that brought to the surface the positive and negative aspects of patronising a 'national' school of artists. Patronage is highlighted as an issue, where its meanings are unravelled in relation to Strange's and Hunter's approach to the complexities of national identity, religion and the reception of Italian art – particularly those derived from the naturalist schools of painting – in Britain. The book provides evidence of the immediate relevance of collection to the scientific community not just in London but in Europe too, as demonstrated by the knowledge of the collection by European visitors. It focuses on the labour of the anatomist and the usefulness of the preparation that was privileged above aesthetic value.
