Science in the Arts
Andreas Vesalius: His Science, Teaching, and
Exceptional Books
Marek H. Dominiczak*
Andreas Vesalius (1514 –1564) is one of the greatest
anatomists of all time. His lasting recognition is due to
two major achievements: being instrumental in making anatomy an empirical science and presenting the
results of his work in an extraordinarily innovative
way. The latter is also his connection with the arts.
Vesalius was born in Brussels. He started his education in Leuven, attended the University of Paris, and completed his studies at the University of Padua (1, 2 ). From
1405 Padua was in the territory of the Venetian Republic,
by far the strongest of the Renaissance city-states (3 ).
Venice was also a major center of the arts, with artists such
as Jacopo, Gentile, and Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, and
Titian (1488/90 –1576), who was then regarded as the
greatest painter in Europe. In their art, the Venetians emphasized the use of color, in contrast to line, which was
dominant in Florentine painting.
Medical knowledge at that time was based on texts
rather than empirical observations. The foundations for
the practice of medicine were still the writings of a Roman
physician, Galen (129 to c 230), whose views had dominated it for over 1300 years (4 ). During the Renaissance,
the humanists’ interest in the human body stimulated
progress in anatomy, and anatomical treatises began to
appear at the beginning of the 16th century.
At Padua, Vesalius taught anatomy and surgery.
He focused the teaching of anatomy on dissection of
human cadavers, and taught by personal demonstration. To support his teaching he began to publish anatomical illustrations. The first were the Tabulae Anatomicae Sex (The Six Anatomical Pictures) printed in
Venice in 1538, a compilation of drawings he used
in teaching (5 ). The Tabulae became immensely
popular—and were extensively plagiarized.
Vesalius’s main book, however, was De Humani
Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (On the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Volumes), printed in 1543 by Johannes Oporinus in Basel, using woodblocks prepared
in either in Padua or Venice. It contains over 600 en-
College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow,
UK.
* Address correspondence to the author at: College of Medical, Veterinary and
Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK. Fax ⫹44-141-211-3452;
e-mail [email protected].
Received August 19, 2013; accepted August 20, 2013.
gravings (6, 7 ). The different volumes address the skeleton, the muscles, the vascular and the nervous systems, the abdomen, the thorax, and the brain (1 ). The
book devoted to the muscles contained a series of images showing successively uncovered muscular layers.
Notably, the human figures were presented in natural, rather than schematic, poses. There clearly was
an aim to produce a publication with artistic value.
The publication of De Humani Corporis Fabrica was
accompanied by the abridged version, the De Humani Corporis Librorum Epitome, which was intended for students (8 ). There was also a German
translation of the Epitome.
Vesalius identified errors in Galen’s texts, particularly the fact that Galenic anatomy was based on animal, not human, dissections. He strongly argued his
points with other professors of anatomy, including his
own teacher Jacques du Bois, known as Sylvius. Yet, he
remained an exponent of Galenic teleological protophysiology. All in all, Vesalius’s systematic criticism of
Galen is his greatest contribution to science: it made
anatomy an empirical discipline.
Vesalius created the drawings for the Tabulae
together with a Flemish artist, Jan Stephan van Calcar (1499 –1546/50). Van Calcar, born in Cleves (today’s Germany), became a pupil of Titian in 1536
(9 ). Although no name of the artist–illustrator is
mentioned in De Humani Corporis Fabrica, the assumption remains that much of it, if not all, is also
van Calcar’s work.
Apart from their scientific and educational value,
the De Humani Corporis Fabrica and the Epitome are
unique as books. They are precursors of book design
that, as shown in Fig. 1, integrates images and descriptive text. De Humani Corporis Fabrica is now regarded
as one of the most influential books ever published.
The story of Vesalius combines revolutionary refocusing of a major medical discipline, anatomy, with
innovative teaching methods and equally innovative
publishing techniques. Thus, it addresses all major academic functions. Interestingly, this multifaceted
achievement emerged from an environment that included a leading university in Padua, and an extraordinary center of the arts that was Venice. Altogether, it is
yet another testimony to the benefits of collaboration
between science and the arts.
Clinical Chemistry 59:11 (2013) 1687
Science in the Arts
Fig. 1. Andreas Vesalius.
Anatomical study, illustration from De Humani Corporis Fabrica Librorum Epitome by Andreas Vesalius (1514 –1564), published
in Basel, 1543 (engraving). Note the integration of the image with textual descriptions—a highly innovative layout at the time.
Flemish School (16th century). Black and white photograph. Bibliotheque de la Faculte de Medecine, Paris, France/Archives
Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library. ©Reproduced with permission.
1688 Clinical Chemistry 59:11 (2013)
Science in the Arts
Author Contributions: All authors confirmed they have contributed to
the intellectual content of this paper and have met the following 3 requirements: (a) significant contributions to the conception and design,
acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; (b) drafting
or revising the article for intellectual content; and (c) final approval of
the published article.
Authors’ Disclosures or Potential Conflicts of Interest: No authors
declared any potential conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments: My thanks to Jacky Gardiner for her excellent
secretarial assistance.
References
1. Porter R. The greatest benefit to mankind: a medical history of humanity from
antiquity to the present. London: Fontana Press; 1999. p 176 – 86.
2. Petrucelli RJ II. Art and science. In: Lyons AS, Petrucelli RJ II, eds. Medicine:
an illustrated history. New York: Harry N. Abrams; 1987. p 399 – 423.
3. History of the University of Padua. http://www.unipd.it/en/university/history
(Accessed August 2013).
4. Lyons AS. Galen. In: Lyons AS, Petrucelli RJ II, eds. Medicine: an illustrated
history. New York: Harry N. Abrams; 1987. p 250 – 61.
5. The Tabulae Anatomicae 1538. http://www.zol.be/internet/vesalius/Tabulae/
body_tabulae.html (Accessed August 2013).
6. British Library Online Gallery. Vesalius: introduction. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/
ttp/vesalius/accessible/introduction.html#content (Accessed August 2013).
7. Codex 99. De Humani Corporis Fabrica. Andreas Vesalius. http://www.
codex99.com/anatomy/45.html (Accessed August 2013).
8. University of Glasgow Special Collections. De Humani Corporis Fabrica Librorum Epitome. http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/sep2002.htm (Accessed August 2013).
9. Jan Steven van Calcar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_van_Calcar (Accessed
August 2013).
DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2012.199968
Clinical Chemistry 59:11 (2013) 1689