Abstract
The illustrated anatomical works of Andreas Vesalius, now icons of medical history, exemplified Renaissance humanists' attitudes toward the human condition. Methods of teaching medical students gross anatomy have evolved from the attitudes and methods of Renaissance scientist-scholars. The work of Vesalius is crucial to understanding the revolution in early modern medicine, for not only is it devoted to minute observation and exploration of the human body, but also to translating new knowledge by means of art. In the process of illustration, the cadavers become ennobled, leading the viewer to contemplation of the nature of our common humanity. It is the thesis of this paper that the merging of art and science achieved in the great anatomical studies of the 16th and 17th centuries may still be useful in the education of medical students by allowing a balance between scientific detachment and compassion.
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference notes
William Schuppbach,The Paradox of Rembrandt's ‘Anatomy of Dr. Tulp.’ (London: Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, 1982), p. 13.
Glenn Harcourt, “Andreas Vesalius and the Anatomy of Antique Sculpture,”Representations 17, Winter 1987, p. 28.
Andreas Vesalius,De humani corporis fabrica, fol. 3r.
Ibid., 5.19.
E.H. Gombrich,Art and Illusion. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969), p. 87.
Pico Della Mirandola, “Oration on the Dignity of Man,”The Renaissance Philosophy of Man, edited by Ernst Cassirer, Paul Oskar Kristeller, John Herman Randall, Jr. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948), p. 225.
Robert Waelder,Psychoanalytic Avenues to Art. (New York: International University Press, Inc., 1965) p. 64.
Harcourt, p. 33.
Waelder, p. 13.
Sigmund Freud,The Claims of Psycho-Analysis to Scientific Interest, Standard Edition, 13: 165–190. (London: Hogarth Press, 1955), p. 187.
A. Gregg,For Future Doctors, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), pp. 25–26.
John Cody, “The Arts Versus Angus Duer, M.D.,”The Visual Arts and Medical Education, edited by Geri Berg (Carbondale & Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press, 1983), p. 34.
Ibid.
E.H. Gombrich,Art, Perception and Reality. (Baltimore & London: Johns Hopkins Press, 1972), p. 41.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Winkler, M.G. Tragic figures: Thoughts on the visual arts and anatomy. J Med Hum 10, 5–12 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01136376
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01136376