Rosalba Ciranni
History of Medicine, Department of Oncology, University of Pisa, I
Keywords:
Anatomy , Dissection , Medici’s letters, Epistola radicis chynae, Emperor Charles V
Abstract
Andreas Vesalius is the most commanding figure in European medicine, after Galen and before Harvey. His dissections and lectures were in considerable demand. Having just published the De humani corporis fabrica, and before operating as a private physician of Emperor Charles V, the anatomist spent some months conducting demonstrations of anatomy at the universities of Bologna, Pisa and Florence. The present study aim to reconstruct the journey he made to Pisa, where he was invited by Duke Cosimo I De’ Medici. The work of Andrea Corsini and O’Malley, the study of Vesalius’ Epistola… rationem modumque propinandi radicis Chynae dedocti... , and other documents make possible a more detailed reconstruction of the period Vesalius spent in the Nuovo Studio Pisano, carrying out public human dissections, discussing and refuting most of the Galenic doctrine.
