Andreas Vesalius’ Published works
In 1543, Andreas Vesalius published his masterwork the Fabrica and the accompanying Epitome, a pictorial guide with minimal description, like his earlier Tabulae Sex. It was intended as a companion guide to create a complete course of instruction in anatomy, from basic to advanced. We know that Andreas Vesalius performed the dissections and was a good enough draftsman to make
of his studies. His overall skills as an artist, however, were not to the level of the Fabrica. Who drew the illustrations, and who cut the wood blocks for the printing?
Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica
Based on careful reviews, historians of art believe that the drawings came from Titian’s school in nearby Venice with more than one artist was involved, including the mysterious Jan Stefan van Kalkar, as well as a landscape specialist from Titian’s school named Domenico Campagnola, and probably others. These artists worked under the direction of Vesalius, who also drew some of the sketches.
As for the production of the wood blocks used in the first and second editions (1555), all that is known is that they were struck by hand in Venice by unknown artisans and then sent to Basel for the printing. The detailed craftsmanship was clearly extraordinary. Their subsequent history has been one of disappearance and partial rediscovery.
controversy
Soon after the Andreas Vesalius’ Fabrica and the Epitome were released, many of the older professors whose lives had been spent upholding a system they now interpreted as being denounced, proclaimed their unfavorable reviews. Jacobus Sylvius, Vesalius’ renowned and influential instructor at Paris, was particularly incensed. He demanded a retraction and begged the emperor to physically punish his former student. Vesalius stood firm, although not before burning the notes of his original manuscript in a rage of anger and sadness. In Italy, however, the reception Andreas received was quite different.
hippocrates
He returned in triumph to Padua, then continued his victory tour south, for a lecture and demonstration at the medical school in Bologna. From there he headed through the thigh of the peninsula to Pisa where no less than the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo de Medici, invited him to teach and then offered him permanent service. But Vesalius maintained more immediate ties to the Hapsburg emperor, under whom his father had profited and he himself had found protection. So, he chose to follow the ideal established by Hippocrates and reinforced by his Renaissance teacher, Montanus of establishing a medical practice. Anatomy was the basis of medicine. Applying it to the purpose of curing the sick was the reason for learning it. Hence, in the summer of 1544, he became physician and surgeon to the imperial forces, which were fighting the French.
madrid
When Philip II moved his court from the Netherlands to Madrid in the autumn of 1559, Vesalius, his wife of fifteen years, Anne, and their only child, a daughter also named Anne, went along. Andreas and his Annes undoubtedly became homesick for their beloved Brussels, especially in the rigid and reactionary environment of the Spanish court, where the more traditional Spanish physicians were envious and hostile towards him.
death at sea
Near the end of his life, he wrote a letter to Gabriel Fallopius, professor of anatomy at Padua, in which he speaks to the excitement of academic life and seems to question his own decision to forgo the opportunities to teach in Italy. Apparently disillusioned with his life in Spain, he decided to take a voyage to the Holy Land in 1564. What happened during the return voyage remains a mystery. A storm? Sickness? Mutiny? Murder? What is known is that Andreas Vesalius never came back. He died, as his tombstone recorded, on October 15, 1564 and was buried on the island of Zante in the Ionian Sea.
johannes oporinus
Anyone who views Vesalius’ masterpiece and considers the timing of its production holds the proof of his wisdom in front of her. Andreas Vesalius will forever remain among the pantheon of great physicians and innovative scientists. His story is a testimony to the ultimate assertion of the rational truth of science. Yet, there is another character important in the Vesalius story who receives little attention in the telling. In some respects, he is a better example of the genius that emanated from the Renaissance. That person is the printer of the Fabrica, Johannes Oporinus, and I will relate his story in the next blog post.
Thank you for reading. Please follow my other posts and leave a comment. You can find more information about Lionardo DiCapua’s life in my book, From Superstition to Science: Lionardo DiCapua and the Uncertainty of Medicine
