The dissecting room from the original by Rowlandson in the possession of William Tiffin Iliff, Esqre. / [graphic]

"A realistic study, touched with satire. Two bodies are being dissected. Two men (seated) are at work on the body which forms the centre of the design. Behind the trestle-table the lecturer, wearing dark spectacles, stands, pointing down; round him are grouped students who listen and watch. On the right a man sits with his back to the room, dissecting. An elderly surgeon stands over him chapeau-bras, inspecting the work through an eyeglass. In the foreground (left) a body lying half in a box is being disembowelled by an elderly man who kneels on the ground. He and the anatomists wear aprons and oversleeves. The room has a slightly sloping roof, with a skylight running along its left side. On the right wall in the foreground hangtwo skeletons; in the background (right) a third stands in profile to the left, as if grinning at the scene. The skeleton of a dog (?) hangs from the roof. A bust on a bracket (right) looks down cynically. Two posters are on the right wall: 'Rules to be observed by those Gentlemen who Dissect in -' and 'Prices for Bodys Male Subject - Female Do - Infant -'."--British Museum online catalogue