Giulio Cesare Casseri is the author of an early anatomical treatise that offered detailed accounts of how the larynx functions and its role in the production of the voice. This treatise influenced discussions about whether ventriloquists had supernatural or demonic powers or had a different physiognomy that allowed them to speak from their bellies.

Installation photograph, NOT I Throwing Voices (1500 BCE-2020 CE), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2021, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA