Medical artists and surgeons combine to get under the skin of top athletes

However, an art exhibition will be launched in the capital today that puts them under a very different kind of scrutiny.

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) has teamed up with the Medical Artists’ Association of Great Britain to create a collection of works which combine the study of top level sport and surgery.

The Anatomy of an Athlete exhibition has opened at the college’s Hunterian Museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, and will run until Saturday September 29.

According to the museum all of new artworks within it “explore the anatomy and physiology of elite athletics”.

The display will allow visitors to discover more about the latest techniques in orthopaedic surgery, innovative developments in prosthetics and the importance of training to muscle development. Items in the exhibition include an anatomical wax model of elite athlete Richard Whitehead, who was born with complete femurs but no lower legs.

He is depicted wearing carbon fibre prostheses, designed by Ossur, who make the running blades used by Oscar Pistorius.

The model’s co-designer, Richard Neave, was among the artists at the museum yesterday as the exhibition was given its official Press launch.

Artist Emily Evans also attended the exhibition, which includes her study of a hurdler in motion.

Other top medical artists who have contributed include Joanna Culley, Denise Smith and Catherine Sulzmann.

A museum spokesman said: “Their art provides a unique opportunity to study in detail the best of British at running, hurdling, canoeing and hockey.”

The exhibition displays a variety of art-forms including watercolours, video and sculpture to represent a selection of sports and paralympic events

The Hunterian Museum dates back to 1799 when the Government donated a collection belonging to leading surgeon John Hunter to the RCS.