Vertebral column with dissections of nerves and blood vessels, with skin (?) in the background, and (left) the figure of a man representing Ecclesiastes, the whole being an illustration of Ecclesiastes XII, 6 "the silver cord". Drawing attributed to Johann Melchior Füssli, ca. 1730.

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<p>The drawing shows Ecclesiastes (lower left) pointing to the broken spinal cord, and saying "Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." The "golden bowl" is interpreted as the brain and the "silver cord" as the spinal cord, the link between the physical body and the non-physical thoughts in the brain. The design of the spinal cord is copied by the artist from an engraving that was designed in the 16th century by the Italian anatomist Bartolommeo Eustachi, was subsequently lost, and was then rediscovered and published in 1714</p>

Vertebral column with dissections of nerves and blood vessels, with skin (?) in the background, and (left) the figure of a man representing Ecclesiastes, the whole being an illustration of Ecclesiastes XII, 6 "the silver cord". Drawing attributed to Johann Melchior Füssli, ca. 1730.

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