Andreas Vesalius: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Vesalius Fabrica portrait.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Andreas Vesalius (portrait from the ''Fabrica'').]] |
[[Image:Vesalius Fabrica portrait.jpg|right|250px|thumb|Andreas Vesalius (portrait from the ''Fabrica'').]] |
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| ⚫ | '''Andreas Vesalius''' ([[December 31]], [[1514]] - [[October 15]], [[1564]]) was a [[Flemings|Flemish]] [[Anatomy|anatomist]] and author one of the most influential books on [[human anatomy]], ''[[De Humanis Corporis Fabrica]]'' (''On the Workings of the Human Body''). Vesalius has been often been referred to as the founder of human anatomy. |
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His name is also referred to as ''Andreas Vesal''' or '''Andras van Wesele''', depending on the source. |
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| ⚫ | '''Andreas Vesalius''' |
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==Early life and education== |
==Early life and education== |
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Vesalius was born in [[Brussels, Belgium]] to a family of physicians, and took his basic education at the [[University of Louvain]], learning [[Greek]] and [[Latin]] according to standards of the era. In 1533, at the age of nineteen, he moved to the [[University of Paris]] to study medicine under the auspices of [[Jacques Dubois]]. Here he developed an interest in anatomy. In 1536 he moved to [[Venice]] to continue his studies. In 1537 Vesalius moved to the [[University of Padua]] where he obtained his medical degree that year. He was then offered a job at the University as a lecturer on surgery. |
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The French anatomy of the [[16th century]] was distinguished by two circumstances unfavourable to the advancement of the science — extravagant admiration of antiquity, with excessive confidence in the writings of [[Galen]], and the general practice of dissecting the bodies of the lower animals. Both these errors were much amended by the exertions of Vesalius. |
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Over the next six years he made detailed anatomical observations and dissections of the human body, working at Padua, [[Bologna]] and [[Pisa]]. During his research he showed that the anatomical teachings of [[Galen]], at that time revered in medical schools, was actually based upon the dissections of animals even though they were meant as a guide to the human body. Vesalius demonstrated that many of the facts stated by Galen and accepted largely without comment were in fact wrong, for instance, the heart had four chambers. |
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After acquiring at [[Leuven]] the ordinary classical attainments of the day, Vesalius began at the age of fourteen to study anatomy under the auspices of [[Jacques Dubois]]. The originality of his mind soon led him to abandon the prejudices innate in Dubois' teaching, and take the most direct course for attaining a knowledge of the structure of the human frame. He neither underrated the Galenian anatomy nor was indolent in the dissection of brute animals. The difficulties, however, with which the practical pursuit of human anatomy was beset in [[France]]], and the dangers with which he had to contend, made him look to [[Italy]] as a suitable place to learn: and in 1536 he went to [[Venice]], pursuing the study of human anatomy. |
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When only twenty-one, he requested to demonstrate publicly in the [[University of Padua]]. After about seven years, Vesalius was invited to [[Bologna]], and shortly afterwards to [[Pisa]]; as a professor of surgery and anatomy in three universities, he appears to have carried on his anatomical investigations and instructions alternately at Padua, Bologna and Pisa, in the course of the same winter. It is on this account that Vesalius, though trained originally in the French school, belongs, as an anatomist, to the Italian, and may be viewed as the first of an illustrious line of teachers by whom the anatomical reputation of that country was raised to the greatest eminence. |
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==''De Corporis Fabrica''== |
==''De Corporis Fabrica''== |
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[[Image:Vesalius Fabrica p190.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Vesalius's ''Fabrica'' contained many intricately detailed drawings of human dissections, often in allegorical poses.]] |
[[Image:Vesalius Fabrica p190.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Vesalius's ''Fabrica'' contained many intricately detailed drawings of human dissections, often in allegorical poses.]] |
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In 1543, Vesalius published ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]'' (''On the fabric of the human body''), a groundbreaking work of [[human anatomy]]. |
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The work emphasized the priority of dissection and what has come to be called the "anatomical" view of the body — seeing human internal functioning as an essentially corporeal structure filled with organs arranged in three-dimensional space. This was in stark contrast to many of the anatomical models used previously, which had strong [[Galen]]ic/[[Aristotle]]an elements, as well as elements of [[astrology]]. Although modern anatomical texts had been published by [[Mondino de Liuzzi|Mondino]] and [[Anatomy in the School of Bologna#Berenger|Berenger]], much of their work was clouded by their reverence for Galen and Arabian doctrines. |
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| ⚫ | Besides the first good description of the [[sphenoid bone]], he showed that the [[sternum]] consists of three portions and the [[sacrum]] of five or six; and described accurately the [[vestibule]] in the interior of the temporal bone. He not only verified the observation of Etienne on the valves of the hepatic veins, but he described the [[vena azygos]], and discovered the canal which passes in the foetus between the umbilical vein and the vena cava, since named [[ductus venosus]]. He described the [[omentum]], and its connections with the stomach, the [[spleen]] and the [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]]; gave the first correct views of the structure of the [[pylorus]]; observed the small size of the caecal appendix in man; gave the first good account of the [[mediastinum]] and [[pleura]] and the fullest description of the anatomy of the brain yet advanced. He did not understand the inferior recesses; and his account of the nerves is confused by regarding the optic as the first pair, the third as the fifth and the fifth as the seventh. |
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| ⚫ | Soon after this he was invited as Imperial physician to the court of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]] |
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The old story that Vesalius crossed the path of the [[Inquisition]] is now known to be almost without foundation (see C.D. O’Malley ''Andreas Vesalius’ Pilgrimage'', Isis 45:2, 1954) and is dismissed by modern biographers. Instead, Vesalius's pilgrimage to the Holy Land appears to have been driven by nothing but his own piety. He sailed with the Venetian fleet, under [[James Malatesta]], for [[Cyprus]]. When he reached [[Jerusalem]], he received from the Venetian senate a message requesting him again to accept the Paduan professorship, which had become vacant by the death of his friend and pupil [[Gabriele Falloppio|Fallopius]]. After struggling for many days with the adverse winds in the [[Ionian Sea]], he was wrecked on the island of [[Zante]], where he soon died in such penury that, if a benefactor had not paid for a funeral, his remains would have been eaten by animals. At the time of his death he was scarcely fifty years of age. |
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Though Vesalius' work was not the first such work based on actual autopsy, nor even the first work of this era, the production values, highly-detailed and intricate plates, and the fact that the artists who produced it were clearly present at the dissections themselves made it into an instant classic. Pirated editions were available almost immediately, a fact Vesalius acknowledged would happen in a printer's note. Vesalius was only 30 years old when the first edition of ''Fabrica'' was published. |
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==Vesalius' role in the history of anatomy== |
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| ⚫ | Soon after this he was invited as Imperial physician to the court of [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles V]]. Here he was constantly occupied answering the various charges brought against him by the disciples of Galen. After the abdication of Charles he continued at court in great favour with his son [[Philip II of Spain]]. |
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To form a correct estimate of the character and merits of Vesalius, we must not compare him, in the spirit of modern perfection, with the anatomical authors either of later times or of the present day. He was not a bold innovator without academical learning, not a genius coming from a foreign country, unused to the forms and habits of [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] Europe, nor a wild reformer, blaming indiscriminately everything which accorded not with his opinion; but a young student scarcely emancipated from the authority of instructors, whose intellect was still influenced by the doctrines with which it had been originally imbued — a scholar strictly trained in the opinions of the time, living amidst men who venerated Galen as the oracle of anatomy and the divinity of medicine — exercising his reason to estimate the soundness of the instructions then in use, and proceeding, in the way least likely to offend authority and wound prejudice, to rectify errors, and to establish on the solid basis of observation the true elements of anatomical science. |
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Vesalius later took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He sailed with the Venetian fleet under [[James Malatesta]] via [[Cyprus]]. When he reached [[Jerusalem]], he received a message from the Venetian senate requesting him again to accept the Paduan professorship, which had become vacant by the death of his friend and pupil [[Gabriele Falloppio|Fallopius]]. |
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After struggling for many days with the adverse winds in the [[Ionian Sea]], he was wrecked on the island of [[Zante]]. Here he soon died in such debt that, if a benefactor had not paid for a funeral, his remains would have been thrown to the animals. At the time of his death he was scarcely fifty years of age. |
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Vesalius has been denominated the founder of human anatomy; and though he was preceded by [[Mondino de Liuzzi|Mondino]] and [[Anatomy in the School of Bologna#Berenger|Berenger]], the small proportion of correct observation which their reverence for Galen and Arabian doctrines allowed them to communicate, will not in a material degree impair the original merits of Vesalius. The errors which he rectified and the additions which he made are so numerous, that it is impossible, in such a sketch as the present, to communicate a just idea of them. |
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For many years it was assumed that Vesalius's pilgrimage was due to pressures of the [[Inquisition]]. Today this is generally considered to be without foundation (see C.D. O’Malley ''Andreas Vesalius’ Pilgrimage'', Isis 45:2, 1954) and is dismissed by modern biographers. |
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| ⚫ | Besides the first good description of the [[sphenoid bone]], he showed that the [[sternum]] consists of three portions and the [[sacrum]] of five or six; and described accurately the [[vestibule]] in the interior of the temporal bone. He not only verified the observation of Etienne on the valves of the hepatic veins, but he described the [[vena azygos]], and discovered the canal which passes in the foetus between the umbilical vein and the vena cava, since named [[ductus venosus]]. He described the [[omentum]], and its connections with the stomach, the [[spleen]] and the [[Colon (anatomy)|colon]]; gave the first correct views of the structure of the [[pylorus]]; observed the small size of the caecal appendix in man; gave the first good account of the [[mediastinum]] and [[pleura]] and the fullest description of the anatomy of the brain yet advanced. |
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==Trivia== |
==Trivia== |
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Revision as of 21:22, 16 December 2005
Andreas Vesalius (December 31, 1514 - October 15, 1564) was a Flemish anatomist and author one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De Humanis Corporis Fabrica (On the Workings of the Human Body). Vesalius has been often been referred to as the founder of human anatomy.
His name is also referred to as Andreas Vesal' or Andras van Wesele, depending on the source.
Early life and education
Vesalius was born in Brussels, Belgium to a family of physicians, and took his basic education at the University of Louvain, learning Greek and Latin according to standards of the era. In 1533, at the age of nineteen, he moved to the University of Paris to study medicine under the auspices of Jacques Dubois. Here he developed an interest in anatomy. In 1536 he moved to Venice to continue his studies. In 1537 Vesalius moved to the University of Padua where he obtained his medical degree that year. He was then offered a job at the University as a lecturer on surgery.
Over the next six years he made detailed anatomical observations and dissections of the human body, working at Padua, Bologna and Pisa. During his research he showed that the anatomical teachings of Galen, at that time revered in medical schools, was actually based upon the dissections of animals even though they were meant as a guide to the human body. Vesalius demonstrated that many of the facts stated by Galen and accepted largely without comment were in fact wrong, for instance, the heart had four chambers.
De Corporis Fabrica
In 1543, Vesalius published De humani corporis fabrica (On the fabric of the human body), a groundbreaking work of human anatomy.
The work emphasized the priority of dissection and what has come to be called the "anatomical" view of the body — seeing human internal functioning as an essentially corporeal structure filled with organs arranged in three-dimensional space. This was in stark contrast to many of the anatomical models used previously, which had strong Galenic/Aristotlean elements, as well as elements of astrology. Although modern anatomical texts had been published by Mondino and Berenger, much of their work was clouded by their reverence for Galen and Arabian doctrines.
Besides the first good description of the sphenoid bone, he showed that the sternum consists of three portions and the sacrum of five or six; and described accurately the vestibule in the interior of the temporal bone. He not only verified the observation of Etienne on the valves of the hepatic veins, but he described the vena azygos, and discovered the canal which passes in the foetus between the umbilical vein and the vena cava, since named ductus venosus. He described the omentum, and its connections with the stomach, the spleen and the colon; gave the first correct views of the structure of the pylorus; observed the small size of the caecal appendix in man; gave the first good account of the mediastinum and pleura and the fullest description of the anatomy of the brain yet advanced. He did not understand the inferior recesses; and his account of the nerves is confused by regarding the optic as the first pair, the third as the fifth and the fifth as the seventh.
Though Vesalius' work was not the first such work based on actual autopsy, nor even the first work of this era, the production values, highly-detailed and intricate plates, and the fact that the artists who produced it were clearly present at the dissections themselves made it into an instant classic. Pirated editions were available almost immediately, a fact Vesalius acknowledged would happen in a printer's note. Vesalius was only 30 years old when the first edition of Fabrica was published.
Imperial Physician and Death
Soon after this he was invited as Imperial physician to the court of Emperor Charles V. Here he was constantly occupied answering the various charges brought against him by the disciples of Galen. After the abdication of Charles he continued at court in great favour with his son Philip II of Spain.
Vesalius later took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He sailed with the Venetian fleet under James Malatesta via Cyprus. When he reached Jerusalem, he received a message from the Venetian senate requesting him again to accept the Paduan professorship, which had become vacant by the death of his friend and pupil Fallopius.
After struggling for many days with the adverse winds in the Ionian Sea, he was wrecked on the island of Zante. Here he soon died in such debt that, if a benefactor had not paid for a funeral, his remains would have been thrown to the animals. At the time of his death he was scarcely fifty years of age.
For many years it was assumed that Vesalius's pilgrimage was due to pressures of the Inquisition. Today this is generally considered to be without foundation (see C.D. O’Malley Andreas Vesalius’ Pilgrimage, Isis 45:2, 1954) and is dismissed by modern biographers.
Trivia
- Belgian participants to the five week long media event "De Grootste Belg" (Dutch for "The Greatest Belgian") in 2005 voted Vesalius to the place of the sixth greatest Belgian of all time. [1]
External links
