Revisiting Max Brödel's 1939 classic coronal illustration of the ear.

OBJECTIVE

To create an anatomically more accurate coronal schematic illustration of the ear.

STUDY DESIGN

Analysis of Max Brödel's 1939 classic coronal depiction of the ear including the story of its creation. Utilization of high-resolution CT images and 3D digital models of the temporal bone to create an updated and more anatomically accurate illustration.

RESULTS

For nearly 7 decades, Brödel's beautiful illustration has served as the inspiration for innumerable textbook and article illustrations. In his design, the artist intentionally choose to diverge from literal anatomy in that he distorted some structures (such as the cochlea and posterior semicircular canal) to bring them into greater prominence and clarity and eliminated others (such as the carotid artery) to avoid a cluttered image. Numerous anatomic errors exist such as a 180-degree reversal of the incus and a markedly foreshortened internal auditory canal.

CONCLUSION

Brödel's illustration has been routinely imitated by subsequent illustrators (in collaboration with otologists) and virtually all have faithfully reproduced Brödel's artistic distortions and inadvertent errors in their depictions--often with the assumption that they represented actual anatomy rather than an artistic interpretation. It is hoped that adoption of a more anatomically accurate standard coronal schematic of the ear will enhance the clarity and precision of future illustrations in the otologic literature.