Vesalius: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 13:34, 2 July 2008
Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), [1] [2] [3] a Belgian (Flemish) Renaissance physician/surgeon, anatomist and physiologist, revolutionized the study of biology and the practice of medicine in virtue of the results of his meticulously detailed dissections of human cadavers never previously performed and satisfactorily documented, in virtue of the writing [in Latin] of lucid descriptions of his anatomical and physiological findings, and in virtue of having his anatomical findings exquisitely illustrated by his collaborator, Jan Stephan van Calcar, a protégé of the great Italian artist, Titian.[4] [5] In 1543, at the age of 29 years, Vesalius published De Humani Corpus Fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body.) — generally referred to as Fabrica — a work of many years of observations and illustrations of human dissections that not only laid the foundation for a realistic human anatomy but also demonstrated numerous errors in the anatomical assertions of the self-proclaimed heir of Hippocrates (460-360 CE), Galen (129-216 CE) of Pergamum, the Greek physician/surgeon who based his description of human anatomy on extrapolations of dissections of animals and observations of the wounds of gladiators in Rome and Pergamum. Having unquestionably accepted Galen's conclusions, as had their predecessors throughout the Medieval era, Vesalius's contemporaries found themselves stunned and outraged at what eventuated as one of the most important contributions to the evolution of biology and medicine. In his book on the evolution of medicine, Sir William Osler considered it one of the great books of the world:
The worth of a book, as of a man, must be judged by results, and, so judged, the "Fabrica" is one of the great books of the world, and would come in any century of volumes which embraced the richest harvest of the human mind. In medicine, it represents the full flower of the Renaissance. As a book it is a sumptuous tome—a worthy setting of his jewel—paper, type and illustration to match....the 'chef d'œuvre of any medical library.[6]
The year Fabrica saw publication, Nicholas Copernicus's (1473-1543) De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the revolution of the heavenly spheres) also saw publications. A memorable year (and memorable pair of scholars) that jump-started two revolutions, one on interpretations of the structure and function of the human body, the other on interpretations of the structure and movements of the earth and the sun. Revolutions that challenged ancient wisdom that had dominated thinking in medicine and astronomy. Another anno mirabulus.
In his lectures on the history of medicine, physician/surgeon and Yale Professor Sherwin B. Nuland emphasizes the following in respect of Vesalius and his work:[7]
A. Fabrica has been interpreted to mean not just "structure" but "workings." Vesalius was as interested in the functions of the human body as he was in the anatomy itself.
B. Published in 1543, Fabrica gave the world its first accurate knowledge of anatomy and a method by which it could be studied.
C. Vesalius provided directions by which anyone with appropriate instruments and access to cadavers could perform dissections.
D. Vesalius' s book began the process of debunking Galen, though this would take centuries.[8]
E. Although Vesalius' s text brought about the change, the work of its artist, Jan van Calcar, a protege of Titian, is what is most commented on today.
F. The story of this book and of Vesalius himself is also the story of a series of events representative of the Renaissance, including: 1. A return to interest in the human body; 2. A return to Greek learning
G. The rise of the universities, which were the focus of Renaissance thought.[7]
References and notes cited in text
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Most citations to articles listed here include links (in font-color <font=color="blue"> to full-text. Accessing full-text may require personal or institutional subscription. Nevertheless, many with give ful-text, and if not, usually the links will show the abstracts of the articles, free without subscription. Links to books variously may open to full-text, or to the publishers' description of the book with or without downloadable selected chapters, reviews, and table of contents. Books with links to Google Books often offer extensive previews of the books' text. |
- ↑ O'Malley CD. (1964) Andreas Vesalius of Brussels, 1514-1564. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Note: Considered the definitive biography.
- ↑ Miranda EA. Andreas Vesalius: A Biography. Original written by: Richard S. Westfall (1924-1996), Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Indiana University. Published here as a courtesy of Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. The [http://galileo.rice.edu/Catalog/NewFiles/vesalius.html original document can be found at the Galileo Project of the Rice University.
- Note: Detailed resume of Vesalius Life and Work in outline form.
- ↑ Lind LR (translator, preface, introduction), Asling CW (anatomical notes), Clendening L (forward). (1949) The Epitome of Andreas Vesalius. New York: Macmillan. ISBN .
- Note: This book epitomizes Vesalius’s longer signal book, De Humani Corporis Fabrica (The Fabric of the Human Body. The translator’s Introduction offers a brief biography of Vesalius on pp. xvii-xix in the Questia text.
- ↑ Hazard J. (1996) Jan Stephan Van Calcar, a valuable and unrecognized collaborator of Vesalius. Hist Sci Med. 30(4):471-80. [Article in French] PMID: 11625048
- English Abstract: Numerous and legitimate homages have been paid to Andreas Vesalius, eminent personality of the medical Renaissance. At that time scientific anatomy was inseparable from artistic one. As soon as 1535, Vesalius then 21 years old taught in Padova and at the University of Venice, a town harbouring many artists. It has been suggested that he had obtained the collaboration of Titian himself, but this hypothesis has not been confirmed. In fact "Lives of the best painters, sculptors and architects" G. Vasari expresses his admiration for the prints drawn by Calcar: "the illustrations conceived by Vesalius for his Fabrica and drawn by the outstanding flemish painter Jan Stephan Calcar are of an excellent style". For Carel van Mander nicknamed the "Vasari of the ancient Netherlands", it is to Calcar we owe Vesalius' anatomical plates. The reasons which have led this Flemish born around 1510 in Kalkar, a small town of the Cleves dukedom, to settle in Venice are both general and personal. Pupil of Titian, Calcar was an excellent portrait-painter who assimilated so well his master's style that he was adopted by the Italians calling him Giovanni Calcar. This valuable collaborator of Vesalius and brilliant pupil of Titian went to Naples for unknown reasons and stayed there until his premature death around 1546.
- ↑ Zimbler MS. (2001) Vesalius' Fabrica: The Marriage of Art and Anatomy. Arch Facial Plast Surg 3:220-221. PMID: 11625048
- Excerpt: The Renaissance also brought about the emergence of a new focus in the realm of art. Aesthetic theory now dictated that a work of art should be a faithful representation of nature. This assumption required artists to acquaint themselves with the structure and physical properties of natural phenomena. Art had gone scientific! By the 15th and 16th centuries, artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael turned with enthusiasm to the detailed study of the human body.
- ↑ Osler W. (1921) The Evolution of Modern Medicine: A Series of Lectures Delivered at Yale university on the Silliman Foundation, in April, 1913. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nuland SB. (2008) Doctors: The History of Scientific Medicine Revealed Through Biography. The Teaching Company. (12 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture), Course No. 8128.
- ↑ Note: Nuland writes: "By exposing Galen's errors and adding many new findings, this book clarified the understanding of anatomy and function in ways never previously imagined and began to loosen the ancient icon's stifling hold on medical thought. Being both contentious and aggressively ambitious, Vesalius did not shrink from attacking Galenic theory at every opportunity, which earned him as many enemies as disciples, subverted his career, and eventually resulted in his ignominious death."