Hieronymi Mercvrialis De arte gymnastica libri sex : in quibus exercitationum omnium vetustarum genera, loca, modi, facultates, & quidquid deniq. ad corporis humani exercitationes pertinet, diligenter explicatur ..
Girolamo Mercuriale's 1573 Venetian treatise De arte gymnastica, a six-book scholarly study of ancient exercise and athletics written for physicians and readers of Latin. The woodcut pictures show nude athletes in classical training and competition poses, with a stone-walled arena, a judges' gallery of seated spectators, and a ball-game scene; a designer might borrow their figure poses, muscular anatomy, and crowded classical staging for sporting or historical graphics.
