Andreas Vesalius
In the next few blogs, I am presenting some of the historical characters that influenced Lionardo DiCapua’s learning and his philosophy. The first is the physician/ anatomist Andreas Vesalius.
Vesalius was born in Brussels on the last day of December 1514. His family had a rich heritage in medicine.
ancestry
His great-great grandfather Peter, his great grandfather John and his grandfather Everard are all renowned physicians. His father, also Andreas, a bastard son, was given his papers of legitimacy for faithful service as an apothecary to the Hapsburg family.
Young Andreas Vesalius received his basic education in the classics at Louvain before moving to Paris to study medicine in 1533. His anatomy teacher was the renowned Jacques du Bois of Amiens, Latinized to Jacobus Sylvius. Sylvius was a firm believer in Galen’s anatomical system that later in his career. He was confronted by a difference in anatomical teachings between his revered Galen and his famous former pupil. As a result he denounced Vesalius and blamed any discrepancy on a degeneration of the human species during the interlude.
continued education
After three years, Andreas Vesalius left Paris. He returned to Louvain where he was probably granted his baccalaureate degree in 1537. Andreas then went to Basel for a short stay to have his thesis printed. He departed for Padua, the leading anatomical center in Europe. Part of his studies at Padua took him to nearby Venice. There he followed Professor of Medicine Gianbatista Montanus on his rounds caring for the sick. The professor taught his students hands-on, practical knowledge in the almost forgotten method of Hippocrates. On December 5, 1537 Vesalius received his Doctor of Medicine degree “cum ultima diminutione,” translation “with highest dimunition.” In essence, Vesalius had performed so well on his exams that his fee was reduced to the minimum amount, the highest honor conferred on a student. Learn more about Andreas.
teaching
Because of his performance, the next day he was appointed Professor of Surgery at the age of twenty-three. At that time, anatomy and surgery were a combined course. His students were surprised to see a professor descend from his chair to teach through his own dissections. His anatomy classes were held within a small amphitheater. They became so crowded that there was little space for all the students to get a close view of the topic. So, Vesalius produced large anatomical charts, which became much admired among his pupils. The charts contained three drawings of the vascular system, which Vesalius had sketched. And three of the skeleton drawn by his fellow countryman now living in nearby Venice, the artist Jan Stefan van Kalker. This Tabulae Anatomicae Sex was his first publication and a great success.
Over the next few years, Andreas Vesalius continued teaching and working on his opus magnus. He sometimes obtained specimens for dissection through contact with a local judge of the criminal court. The judge became interested in Vesalius’ work and secured the bodies of executed criminals for him. Vesalius’ texts were intended for the art student as well as the medical student. He was not the first to think of producing such a comprehensive book.
lionardo da vinci
Lionardo da Vinci started a textbook for art students with the anatomist Marcantonio della Torre in the latter part of the 15th century. As it was with many of da Vinci’s ideas, it was never completed. The drawings were lost for centuries and when some were rediscovered. They were obviously the products of careful study created under trying conditions. Oftentimes the autopsy was performed at night when the lighting was poor and the mood more somber. Leonardo da Vinci apprises his students of the task before them:
“And though you have a love for such things, you will perhaps be impeded by your stomach; and if this does not impede you, you will perhaps be impeded by the fear of living through the night in the company of quartered and flayed corpses fearful to behold. And if this does not impede you, perhaps you will lack the good draughtsmanship which appertains to such a representation; and if you have skill in drawing, it may not be accompanied by a knowledge in perspective; and if it were to be accompanied, you might lack the methods of geometrical demonstration and methods of calculation of the forces and the strength of the muscles; or perhaps you will lack the patience so that you will not be diligent.”
de humani corporis fabrica
As it was, the publication of the De Humani Corporis Fabrica in June 1543 marks one of the great moments in man’s quest for knowledge. For the first time in the history of medical studies, the human body was presented for general study in an objective manner, based on careful human dissection. The result was an innovative synthesis of science and art. Vesalius deserves an honored place in the history of science.
To read more about Lionardo DiCapua, his life and times, consider purchasing my book, From Superstition to Science: Lionardo DiCapua and the Uncertainty of Medicine
Thank you for reading. Also, please read my past and future posts and comment.
