Touching anatomy: On the handling of preparations in the anatomical cabinets of Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731)

•The paper is about the anatomical Cabinets of Frederik Ruysch (1668–1738).•Most of the preparations were ‘working material’ rather than artistic ‘still lifes’.•The paper offers a detailed description of how anatomical preparations were continuously handled, touched and dissected.•Visitors were allowed to hold and examine preparations.•Visitors related emotionally to preparations in much the same way as people relate to relics.

This paper argues that the anatomical Cabinets of Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch must be understood as an early modern workshop in which preparations were continuously handled. It is claimed that preparations actively appealed to anatomists and visitors to handle, re-dissect, touch, and even kiss them. Touching anatomy, therefore, not only refers to the physical handling of objects, but also to the ways preparations impacted on visitors and touched them emotionally.