Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564): 500 Years Young

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• published: 18 May 2015
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Join us in commemorating the life and works of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a man who almost single-handedly laid down the foundations for modern anatomical study. Born into a family of imperial physicians in Brussels 500 years ago (December 31st 1514), Vesalius decided to embark on a medical career in his early youth. He exploited fully the freedom of his education at Louvain, Paris, and later at Padua, becoming Professor of Anatomy at the latter institution the day he graduated. Through this appointment, Vesalius was given the luxury to personally dissect and lecture on the human body, and having demonstrated skills beyond his years – he was barely 23 years of age –, he gathered a large and growing following. Through his new method of instruction, the young anatomist was faced with the many anatomical errors made by his ancient and revered preceptor Cladius Galen of Pergamon (129-c.200), a man whose works were deemed Gospel for many centuries and were then making a new revival in renaissance Europe. The authority of Galen was not without justification, but the blind reverence of his followers meant that many of his anatomical mistakes – that were made by the necessary juxtaposition of primate onto human anatomy in a time when human dissection was illegal in Hellenistic Rome – were to be defended and perpetuated indefinitely. Vesalius gradually grew out of his reverence for Galen, and in doing so looked onto the fabric of man with fresh eyes. He was bitterly opposed for his stance on Galen, most famously by his former teacher at Paris, Jacobus Sylvius (1478-1555) who also features in this video. In 1543 came Vesalius' masterwork, the de humani corporis fabrica libri septem (On the fabric of the human body in seven books). This work, a tour de force in the world of renaissance medicine, marked a grand epoch in the history of anatomical study, and has been widely applauded for its innovations in both artistic and medical spheres. In its masterly textual descriptions of anatomical structures, and its embellishment with exquisitely beautiful and touchingly allegorical anatomical woodcuts, the Fabrica remains one of the most important anatomical texts ever compiled. The fate of this work was aptly prophesized by the author himself in a subscript to the second skeletal figure (6:47, left image) found in Book I of his master piece: Vivitur ingenio, caetera mortis erunt – that is “Genius lives on, all else is mortal.”. Despite incessant opposition and ongoing scrutiny for his works from a number of ungenerous detractors, Vesalius paved his way into the Imperial Court shortly after publishing the Fabrica and served as physician to Charles V until the emperor’s abdication in 1556. He then served as house physician to the emperor’s son King Philip II of Spain and settled down as a successful practitioner in Brussels. Towards the end of his life, Vesalius envisaged returning to Padua to continue anatomical studies but his plans were disrupted by his tragic and isolated death on the Greek Island of Zante, where his returning ship was forced to dock after 40 days of battling heavy gales in the Ionian Sea. His gravestone has since been lost. It is difficult to speak in measured terms about the influence of Vesalian anatomy on the development of modern medicine, but it would not be too much to say that every practical advancement in the profession may be linked to the proper understanding of the human fabric. Andreas Vesalius therefore remains a hallowed figure in medical historical circles, and by recognition of his promethean gifts to the craft of healing, we here resurrect his memory in a personalised picture-essay celebrating 500 years of youth. This video was made possible by images sourced from: - The National Library of Medicine - The Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de Santé - The Wellcome Library Images collection - A rare hand coloured copy of the Fabrica owned by the Universitätsbibliothek Basel. Available online at e-rara. - University of Cambridge Digital Library; De humani corporis fabrica. Epitome (CCF.46.36). - Vesalius at 500: Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library Exhibit at the University of Toronto - Andreas Vesalius, Special Collections, University of Glasgow. - The Bridgeman Art Gallery - Look and Learn History Picture Library - Charles Donald O’Malley’s (1907-1970) biography of Vesalius - Wikimedia - Google images The primary historical resource for this video was O’Malley’s biographical masterpiece published in 1964. Nearly all the quotes given are sourced from that work. Other important sources include Garrison and Hast’s new translation of the Fabrica (Karger 2014) and Sir William Osler’s lectures on The Evolution of Modern Medicine (April 1913). The soundtrack for the video – 'Tenderness' – is the brilliant work of Misha Mansoor, a progressive American based musical artist who goes by the solo name of 'Bulb'.