1708 Hebrew Anatomy Print, Toviyah HaKohen, Rare Jewish Medical History Wall Art

What makes this 1708 illustration from Toviyah HaKohen's Ma'aseh Toviyah the most culturally singular print in The Millaner Archive is its complete uniqueness — the only known anatomical illustration in medical history to present the human body as a architectural house, with every organ mapped to a room in Hebrew, merging Jewish scholarship, Renaissance medicine, and philosophical metaphor into one extraordinary image 316 years ago.

Published in Venice in 1708, Ma'aseh Toviyah — The Work of Tobias — was written by Rabbi Toviyah HaKohen, a Polish-born Jewish physician who studied medicine at the University of Padua. 

The book is a Hebrew-language encyclopaedia of medicine, astronomy, botany, and natural philosophy — one of the first works to bring Renaissance European medical knowledge to Hebrew-reading audiences worldwide.

This celebrated frontispiece plate presents two extraordinary images in parallel. 

On the left, a bearded male figure stands with his chest and abdomen open, revealing the internal organs — each labelled with Hebrew letters corresponding to a room in a house: the heart as the reception hall, the lungs as bellows, the liver as the kitchen, the stomach as the mill. 

On the right, a detailed multi-storey building maps each floor to a corresponding body system, making the architectural metaphor literal and complete. 

Between them, a Hebrew scroll unfurls carrying Toviyah's explanatory text in the flowing Ashkenazi script of an early 18th century Venetian press.

The engraving technique — dense cross-hatching and stippling in the European Renaissance tradition — gives the figure extraordinary three-dimensional presence, while the Hebrew typography and architectural detail reveal a mind fluently at home in both Jewish textual tradition and the cutting-edge medical science of his era.

At The Millaner Archive, we do not merely duplicate historical scans — we thoughtfully revitalise their original majesty.

This museum-grade reproduction has been meticulously optimised to preserve every engraved line, every Hebrew letter, and the warm aged paper character of this irreplaceable 316-year-old masterpiece of medical and cultural history.

Premium Presentation: Printed on heavy, archival-grade textured fine art paper with a soft matte finish perfectly replicating the weight and character of the original 1708 Venetian press paper.

Flawless Resolution: Every engraved line, Hebrew annotation, architectural detail, and anatomical structure preserved with absolute museum-grade clarity.

Sizing Options: The portrait format and extraordinary cultural significance make this exceptional for Jewish heritage collections, medical history spaces, academic libraries, and dark academia interiors.

Available in standard gallery framing sizes (e.g., A4, A3, 11×14", 16×20").

Sustainably Made: Printed to order using premium, fade-resistant archival mineral inks.