Dem Menschen nachgebildet

Als Nachbildungen menschlicher Körper können Effigies ebenso wie sogenannte Androiden einen aufschlussreichen Einblick in das Körperverständnis ihrer jeweiligen Zeit geben. In der gemeinsamen Analyse lässt sich aus ihnen eine bild- und körpertheoretische Entwicklung ablesen, deren Auswirkungen bis heute spürbar sind.

Artificial bodies were a special type of object in the Middle Ages and early modern period: the representations or replicas of the human body in life-size served as effigies of rulers or were automaton dolls for various purposes, also known as androids. Manuel Schaub is the first to explore the similarities between these body representations and constructions, deliberately ignoring the obvious differences between these body objects. The focus is on the materials used, the presentation of the artificial bodies and how they were perceived by contemporaries and later generations after the end of the 18th century. In the synopsis of effigies and androids, it is thus possible to reconstruct the development of a body image from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period.