Programa Estímulo Vesalius: Anatomía del Arte
La obra de arte como estructura interdisciplinaria expresiva
Río de Janeiro, 2014/2015
Sólo después de una o dos observaciones suelo decir algo con certeza. —Vesalius
En una Europa donde a principios del siglo XVI aún prevalecía la oscuridad del preconcepto acerca de la real constitución interna del cuerpo humano, Andreas Vesalius consiguió desarrollar un trabajo inédito, completando la primera disección del cuerpo humano de un modo exhaustivo.
Resultado de la aplicación del método empírico, todo aquello descubierto por Vesalius fue registrado en su trabajo titulado La fábrica del cuerpo humano (1543), obra caracterizada por la sistematicidad y el rigor científico.
Hasta hoy, la contribución de Vesalius posee una importancia cardinal entre los anatomistas. Él es además apreciado como pionero en la lucha contra el prejuicio a través de la investigación científica.
“Veredicto primero; argumentos después” exige desde su irracionalidad la Reina de Corazones en una bien conocida obra literaria decimonónica. Y, con todo, cuatrocientos años antes, Vesalius ya había acabado con varias de las irracionalidades hasta entonces dominantes en Occidente y—lo que más importante aún—lo había hecho de un modo deductivo y convincente.
Inspirado por la luz que emana del modus operandi del médico renacentista de Bruselas, el Programa Vesalius reexamina las Artes Visuales como disciplina.
Mariano Akerman explora la naturaleza didáctica de la serie de láminas que ilustran el tratado anatómico de Vesalius, estudia las especificidades y representaciones características del simbolismo hebraico medieval, reconsidera las alegorías occidentales de la Fe, desarrolla el trasfondo existencial de la creatividad sefardita, medita sobre las razones últimas que sustentan tanto la propaganda totalitaria como aquellas expresiones que testimonian y/o evocan el mayor genocidio de la Historia, reconsidera asimismo el papel de lo Imaginario en trabajos artísticos de tanto brasileros como argentinos, para reconectarlos con algunos de sus parientes europeos.
A través de su quehacer metódico, Vesalius iluminó diversos aspectos de una realidad hasta entonces poco conocida y a menudo sólo abordada desde el prejuicio. Evocando el método deductivo del médico de Bruselas y trabajando de un modo analógico, el Programa Vesalius propone esclarecer una serie de importantes tópicos que aún permanecen un tanto oscuros y requieren a su vez una investigación endodérmica de la Anatomía del Arte.
Programa Vesalius Río
• Programa Estímulo Vesalius
• Educación: llegar al hueso del asunto
• Anatomia da Arte
• A Luz de Vesalius
• Vesaliana
• Rebel and Pioneer
• Mariano Akerman CV, Datos y Referentes
• Los 500 años de Andrés Vesalio
Texto mínimamente adaptado del original desarrollado por José Ángel González
El fundador de la anatomía moderna corrigió numerosos errores de las obras de Galeno al publicar en 1543 los siete volúmenes titulados De humani corporis fabrica.
Basada en la observación directa de los cadáveres que le proporcionaba un juez, la obra es el primer tratado moderno sobre la estructura del cuerpo.
Nacido en Bruselas en 1514, Vesalio es ahora el centro de una completa exposición en línea de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Cambridge.
A los 28 años, sin reparar en los gastos, que aforó de su propio bolsillo, y con la obcecada fe de los genios, Andrés Vesalio autoeditó en 1543 una obra en siete tomos que revolucionaría las ideas y concepciones vigentes sobre la anatomía humana, corregiría muchos errores de Galeno de Pérgamo, el médico griego del siglo II en el que todavía confiaba la mayor parte del gremio, y fundaría la práctica de la observación directa, la disección de cadáveres y la cirugía quirúrgica como procedimientos estándar.
Del nacimiento en Bruselas de Vesalio (1514-1564), padre de la anotomía moderna, se cumplen 500 años y muchos de sus descubrimientos todavía son válidos. El libro con el cual revolucionó la medicina y fundó la anatomía moderna lleva por título Andreae Vesalii Bruxellensis, scholae medicorum Patauinae professoris, de Humani corporis fabrica Libri septem (Andrés Vesalio de Bruselas, profesor de la escuela de medicina de Padua, De la estructura del cuerpo humano en siete libros; reproducciones fascsimilares de la obra).
Los tomos, de cien páginas cada uno, fueron impresos en el mejor papel del mercado e ilustrados por artistas de primera fila, entre ellos alumnos de Tiziano. Vesalio debió superar la reticencia y desprecio de los partidarios de Galeno, que le llamaban "barbero" por el uso de la disección de los cadáveres de asesinos ejecutados que le proporciona un juez, y llegó a ser condenado a la hoguera por prácticas que se consideraban anatémicas. Fue salvado por la intervención personal del rey Felipe II que, para guardar las apariencias, cambió el castigo por una peregrinación a Tierra Santa, al regreso de la cual el investigador enfermó y murió en Chipre a los 50 años.
Los 500 años del nacimiento de este pionero valiente y apasionado son celebrados por la Universidad de Cambridge con la exposición on line The 500th Anniversary of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564): Vivitur Ingenio. La muestra, que parte de los fondos de la biblioteca de la Institución, propietaria de cuatro copias de la primera edición del tratado, dos de la segunda y la única conocida en color del Epitome, una adenda-resumen de los siete tomos coloreada a mano, quiere recordar la "innovación en fondo y forma" de la obra de Vesalio, a quien consideran merecedor de la calificación latina "vivitur ingenio" (tomada de la frase de Virgilio Vivitur ingenio, caeteris mortis erunt, "vida al genio, muerte a los otros"), por su "inclinación natural, capacidad innata y talento".
La exposición muestra varios apartados. Focus on the Frontispiece (Foco en el frontispicio) aprovecha un espectacular grabado coloreado donde Vesalio aparece diseccionando un cadáver y rodeado de estudiosos y público para mostrar la riqueza gráfica, popularidad y precisión que el anatomista quiso dar a la obra. Se sabe con certeza que entre los artistas seleccionados para las centenares de ilustraciones trabajó Jan Stephan Calcar (c. 1499-1546), un alumno destacado del taller de Tiziano, y se ha sugerido que el elenco de los pintores y grabadores contratados por Vesalio incluía también a Domenico Campagnola (c. 1500-1564).
Portraits of Physicians (Retratos de médicos) analiza cómo en el siglo XVI cambió de forma radical la forma de representar a los profesionales de la médicina, que hasta entonces no pasaban de aparecer como personas que simplemente sometían a exámenes visuales frascos con sangre y orina. La situación cambia y en el retrato de Calcar a Vesalius éste aparece, orgulloso y con cierta altanería en el gesto, sosteniendo un brazo diseccionado y sin piel para un estudio profundo de la anatomía.
En Selected Images from the Fabrica (Imágenes seleccionadas de La Estructura) se muestra una colección de los grabados espectaculares de la obra de Vesalio, quien deseaba no solo editar la publicación definitiva sobre la ciencia anatómica (que nunca se había mostrado con tanta exactitud, riqueza y tamaño), sino también impresionar al emperador Carlos de Haubsburgo, de quien llegó a ser médico personal y al que regaló la primera copia del libro, encuadernada en seda de color púrpura imperial y con ilustraciones pintadas a mano. La misma intención se adivina en Paper Bodies (Cuerpos de papel), sección dedicada a los complejos grabados de montajes por capas de los diversos sistemas orgánicos.
Memento mori y The Importance of Bones (La importancia de los huesos) se centran en los avances de Vesalio como estudioso del sistema de huesos del cuerpo, al que consideraba una arquitectura —de ahí el uso del término latino fabrica, estructura— de varios sistemas enlazados.
Vesalio ofreció, entre otros hallazgos, la primera descripción del esfenoides, demostró que el esternón tiene tres partes y describió el vestíbulo del hueso temporal; ofreció las primeras nociones sobre la estructura del píloro y la pleura y la explicación más correcta de la anatomía del cerebro hasta entonces. También refutó alguna de las ideas clave de Galeno, como que los vasos sanguíneos nacían del hígado, como puede verse en Veins and arteries (Venas y arterias).
Scenes of Dissection (Escenas de disección) traza la historia de esta práctica, común desde la Edad Media, pero celebrada primero en recintos cerrados y con limitación de entrada y progresivamente en locales abiertos al público, incluso en teatros. Un último capítulo de la exposición está dedicado al impacto de la obra de Vesalio sobre sus sucesores, que la usaron como libro de referencia y la ampliaron con notas y adendas.
La personalidad del padre de la anatomía —nada humilde, seguro de sí mismo y con contactos en toda Europa— y su dedicación —siguió campañas militares para examinar las heridas de guerra in situ— son innegables para Sachiko Kusukawa, coordinador de la exposición en línea. "Sólo tenía 28 años cuando editó la obra y ya era un consumado médico y anatomista que había logarado hacerse un nombre por sí mismo y desarrollado conexiones en toda Europa. Sus retratos sugieren que confiaba plenamente en sus habilidades. Hoy probablemente lo etiquetaríamos como temerario".
• Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) and the Books that Made the Father of Anatomy
Text kindly provided by The University of Cambridge
Born 500 years ago, Andreas Vesalius has iconic status in the history of science. Cambridge University Library holds several copies of the remarkable books that he published to revive the lost art of anatomy and promote his own career as a physician. Historian Dr Sachiko Kusukawa has curated an online exhibition to celebrate Vesalius's achievements.
"Vesalius's books were complex statements about classical ideals of medicine and the role of anatomy. They demonstrated through their beautiful illustrations his grasp of human anatomy, and the detailed knowledge he’d acquired through carrying out dissections" (Sachiko Kusukawa).
Andreas Vesalius was an ambitious young man who was not shy of self-publicity. Born in Flanders 500 years ago, he had his eye on one of the most prestigious roles in medicine. He sought an appointment as personal physician to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. To optimise his chances, Vesalius set out to demonstrate his extensive knowledge of the workings of the human body. One of the ways he did this was to publish in 1543 an extraordinary tome known as the Fabrica, in reference to its Latin title which translates as ‘Seven books on the fabric of the human body’.
Vesalius dedicated the Fabrica to Charles V and presented the Emperor with a copy of what must be the ultimate CV. “Vesalius was only 28 when he produced the Fabrica and its companion piece the Epitome. He was already an accomplished physician and anatomist. He’d made a name for himself and developed connections all over Europe. His portrayal of himself in his books suggests that he was supremely confident of his abilities. Today we would probably label him as brash,” said Dr Sachiko Kusukawa, who has curated an online exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Vesalius on the Cambridge University Library website.
In keeping with his objective of promoting his career, Vesalius appears centre stage in the illustration on the frontispiece of the Fabrica. As the historian Dr Andrew Cunningham explains in a short film for the exhibition, Vesalius shows himself as the star of the show, performing a dissection surrounded by crowds of admirers. Most striking are three figures in togas who represent the learning of the ancient world. They are Galen, Aristotle and Hippocrates and their presence in the picture underlines the way in which the scientists of the Renaissance were reviving the hands-on practice of anatomy in classical times after a long period in which it had fallen from favour.
Almost as remarkable as the Fabrica is the Epitome, also published by Vesalius in 1543 and presented to Charles V’s son, the future Philip II of Spain. Now considered watershed publications in the history of anatomy, these books were innovative in both content and form. By means of his text and illustrations, Vesalius sought to restore the art of anatomy to its rightful place as the foundation of medicine. With their daring use of a range of visual devices – from full-length posed figures to classical sculptures to paper pop-ups to illustrate the positions of the organs – both books are nothing less than works of art.
Scholars have been unable to discover how many copies of the Fabrica or the Epitome were produced – but it is likely to have been between 300 and 500 copies, judging from other scientific books of the period. The surviving copies are now scattered worldwide in public and private collections where they are considered rare and precious treasures that capture the essence of an era awakening to scientific endeavour. On the rare occasions that copies come up for sale they change hands for sums that reflect their historical significance as books produced by a man often described as the ‘father of modern anatomy’. In 1998 a copy of the Fabrica that had been presented to Charles V was sold by Christie’s auction house for $1,652,000.
By virtue of Cambridge University’s 800-year-old history, and its legacy of well-endowed libraries and generous benefactions, the University Library is fortunate to have, in its collection of 16th century medical texts, four copies of the first edition and two copies of the second edition of the Fabrica. In addition, the Library has a unique hand-coloured copy of the Epitome once owned by the Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge, Alexander Macalister (1844-1919).
Everything about these books is designed to impress those who came into contact with them. “The Fabrica and Epitome were lavish productions which reflect the skills of the very best artists and craftsman. The wood blocks were cut in Italy and the books were printed in Basel which was then an important centre for printing. These were not text books aimed at students and nor were they made to be taken into the dissection theatre or to the bedsides of the sick or injured," said Kusukawa.
"Rather, Vesalius's books were complex statements about classical ideals of medicine and the role of anatomy. They demonstrated through their beautiful illustrations his grasp of human anatomy, and the detailed knowledge he’d acquired through carrying out dissections. Such books would have been purchased by learned medical colleagues to add to prized collections of weighty tomes of knowledge."
“At a time when most medical texts were small notebooks, Vesalius opted for a big-is-beautiful approach. The Fabrica measures 43 cm by 27 cm and the Epitome is even larger at 55.8 cm by 37.4 cm – and their generous dimensions allowed Vesalius to commission illustrations that work on a grand scale. The illustrations are wood cuts. It’s a technique in which the space between the lines in finished image is created by using a knife to cut away the surface of the wood block and the skills required to achieve the fine lines in the illustrations are quite exceptional,” said Kusukawa.
No-one knows for certain the identity of the artists whom Vesalius commissioned to produce the 300 or so illustrations that feature in the Fabrica and Epitome – though past scholars have speculated that Vesalius worked with the Venetian painter Titian or one of his pupils. What is certain is that Vesalius must have collaborated closely with his artists and craftsman to translate his first-hand knowledge of the anatomy and morphology of the human body into drawings. As a fusion of science and art, the illustrations reflect the artistic conventions of the Renaissance – for example in the stance of the human figures and the idyllic landscape backdrops in which they are posed.
An ingenious use of paper cut-outs and pop-ups to show the positioning of the organs in the body was developed by Vesalius in partnership with the artists and craftspeople involved in the production of his books. They are a neat solution to the problem of showing how the body is composed of layers and how its component parts work together. Decorated initial letters to the sections of and within the books are another notable feature. Each decorated letter tells a story relevant to the text: one shows grave robbing for corpses to dissect, another suggests how to boil a body in a cauldron, and yet another how to articulate a skeleton.
Vesalius means weasel and it was a name of which the great anatomist was proud. The illustration for the frontispiece of the Fabrica is topped by a coat of arms bearing three weasels and held aloft by a pair of chubby putti. Vesalius’s strategy to impress the powerful inner circle of Charles V paid off: in 1543, immediately after the publication of the Fabrica, he was appointed physician to the Holy Roman Emperor. Five hundred years after his birth, copies of the books he produced exist in the collections of one of the world’s most important and extensive libraries. The Fabrica and Epitome continue to impress all who see them – and now for the first time they can be viewed online with an accompanying commentary highlighting some of their remarkable features and setting them in historical context.
In her book Picturing the book of nature: image, text, and argument in sixteenth-century human anatomy and medical botany (University of Chicago Press, 2012) Sachiko Kusukawa discusses some of the images that feature in the Fabrica and Epitome.
• Vesalius: "I am not accustomed to saying anything with certainty after only one or two observations."
Importancia y legado de Vesalius
Nicolás Copérnico y Andreas Vesalius son dos hombres clave para la ciencia moderna. En tiempos del Renacimiento, ambos trabajaron partiendo de la observación directa de sus respectivos objetos de estudio. Copérnico pertenece al área de la astronomía y escribió De revolutionibus orbium caelestium; Vesalius llevó a cabo las primeras disecciones completas del cuerpo humano y es autor de una obra titulada De humani corporis fábrica (Sobre la estructura del cuerpo humano).
Andreas Vesalius es el fundador de la anatomía científica moderna.
A través de su investigación y publicaciones, Vesalius se propuso cambiar el método didáctico, emplear ilustraciones, corregir a Galeno e incorporar nuevos hallazgos.
Vesalius perteneciá a una familia con varias generaciones dedicadas al servicio médico de diferentes soberanos europeos.
Se educó en Bruselas y Lovaina donde, entre otras materias, aprendió latín, griego, árabe y hebreo.
Vesalius basó sus estudios anatómicos en la observación directa, realizó estudios basados en disecciones de cuerpos humanos, replanteó la medicina de su época y expuso una nueva forma de replantear el conocimiento existente.
Dedicó su obra al emperador Carlos V.
El su Fabrica, Vesalius presenta sus estudios de los músculos; venas, arterias y nervios; vísceras; estructura ósea.
Publicó además el Epitome, versión abreviada de su trabajo para estudiantes de medicina, dedicándosela al entonces príncipe Felipe. En el Epítome, Vesalius trata los aspectos destacados de toda disección.
En su Fabrica, Vesalius provee la primera descripción completa de los huesos esfenoides, el sacro y el esternón, el vestíbulo, el omento, el píloro, el apéndice, el mediastino y la pleura.
Vesalius es el descubridor de la vena ácigos y el ductus venosus.
Provee una valiosas descripciones del corazón y el cerebro.
Durante años Vesalius trabajó como médico imperial, dedicándose posteriormente a la enseñanza en varias universidades europeas. Finalmente realizó una peregrinación a Tierra Santa.
Aportes de Vesalius al conocimiento anatómico:
• Sustituye la anatomía libresca de los glosadores de Galeno por otra, fiel a la realidad y basada en su propia experiencia de disector.
• Corrige numerosos errores descriptivos de Galeno.
• Añade varios descubrimientos y nuevas metodologías de trabajo.
• Describe con claridad numerosísimas partes del cuerpo humano.
• Utiliza con habilidad, belleza y eficacia inéditas ilustraciones anatómicas, que transformaran el modo de trabajar de sus colegas, tanto médicos como artistas.
Andreas Vesalius's De Humani Corporis Fabrica is one of the most influential works in the history of Western medicine. It was conceived and written by 28-year-old Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a professor at the University of Padua. Vesalius was both a gifted dissector and a learned scholar whose great contribution was to apply to anatomy the critical methods developed by the Renaissance humanist scholars.
Vesalius was 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 Fabrica. Andreas Vesalius therefore remains a hallowed figure in medical historical circles.
Resultado de la aplicación del método empírico, todo aquello descubierto por Vesalius fue registrado en su trabajo titulado La fábrica del cuerpo humano (1543), obra caracterizada por la sistematicidad y el rigor científico.
Hasta hoy, la contribución de Vesalius posee una importancia cardinal entre los anatomistas. Él es además apreciado como pionero en la lucha contra el prejuicio a través de la investigación científica.
“Veredicto primero; argumentos después” exige desde su irracionalidad la Reina de Corazones en una bien conocida obra literaria decimonónica. Y, con todo, cuatrocientos años antes, Vesalius ya había acabado con varias de las irracionalidades hasta entonces dominantes en Occidente y—lo que más importante aún—lo había hecho de un modo deductivo y convincente.
Inspirado por la luz que emana del modus operandi del médico renacentista de Bruselas, el Programa Vesalius reexamina las Artes Visuales como disciplina.
Mariano Akerman explora la naturaleza didáctica de la serie de láminas que ilustran el tratado anatómico de Vesalius, estudia las especificidades y representaciones características del simbolismo hebraico medieval, reconsidera las alegorías occidentales de la Fe, desarrolla el trasfondo existencial de la creatividad sefardita, medita sobre las razones últimas que sustentan tanto la propaganda totalitaria como aquellas expresiones que testimonian y/o evocan el mayor genocidio de la Historia, reconsidera asimismo el papel de lo Imaginario en trabajos artísticos de tanto brasileros como argentinos, para reconectarlos con algunos de sus parientes europeos.
A través de su quehacer metódico, Vesalius iluminó diversos aspectos de una realidad hasta entonces poco conocida y a menudo sólo abordada desde el prejuicio. Evocando el método deductivo del médico de Bruselas y trabajando de un modo analógico, el Programa Vesalius propone esclarecer una serie de importantes tópicos que aún permanecen un tanto oscuros y requieren a su vez una investigación endodérmica de la Anatomía del Arte.
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| Sólo después de una o dos observaciones suelo decir algo con certeza. —Vesalius |
Programa Vesalius Río
• Programa Estímulo Vesalius
• Educación: llegar al hueso del asunto
• Anatomia da Arte
• A Luz de Vesalius
• Vesaliana
• Rebel and Pioneer
• Mariano Akerman CV, Datos y Referentes
• Los 500 años de Andrés Vesalio
Texto mínimamente adaptado del original desarrollado por José Ángel González
El fundador de la anatomía moderna corrigió numerosos errores de las obras de Galeno al publicar en 1543 los siete volúmenes titulados De humani corporis fabrica.
Basada en la observación directa de los cadáveres que le proporcionaba un juez, la obra es el primer tratado moderno sobre la estructura del cuerpo.
Nacido en Bruselas en 1514, Vesalio es ahora el centro de una completa exposición en línea de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Cambridge.
A los 28 años, sin reparar en los gastos, que aforó de su propio bolsillo, y con la obcecada fe de los genios, Andrés Vesalio autoeditó en 1543 una obra en siete tomos que revolucionaría las ideas y concepciones vigentes sobre la anatomía humana, corregiría muchos errores de Galeno de Pérgamo, el médico griego del siglo II en el que todavía confiaba la mayor parte del gremio, y fundaría la práctica de la observación directa, la disección de cadáveres y la cirugía quirúrgica como procedimientos estándar.
Del nacimiento en Bruselas de Vesalio (1514-1564), padre de la anotomía moderna, se cumplen 500 años y muchos de sus descubrimientos todavía son válidos. El libro con el cual revolucionó la medicina y fundó la anatomía moderna lleva por título Andreae Vesalii Bruxellensis, scholae medicorum Patauinae professoris, de Humani corporis fabrica Libri septem (Andrés Vesalio de Bruselas, profesor de la escuela de medicina de Padua, De la estructura del cuerpo humano en siete libros; reproducciones fascsimilares de la obra).
Los tomos, de cien páginas cada uno, fueron impresos en el mejor papel del mercado e ilustrados por artistas de primera fila, entre ellos alumnos de Tiziano. Vesalio debió superar la reticencia y desprecio de los partidarios de Galeno, que le llamaban "barbero" por el uso de la disección de los cadáveres de asesinos ejecutados que le proporciona un juez, y llegó a ser condenado a la hoguera por prácticas que se consideraban anatémicas. Fue salvado por la intervención personal del rey Felipe II que, para guardar las apariencias, cambió el castigo por una peregrinación a Tierra Santa, al regreso de la cual el investigador enfermó y murió en Chipre a los 50 años.
Los 500 años del nacimiento de este pionero valiente y apasionado son celebrados por la Universidad de Cambridge con la exposición on line The 500th Anniversary of Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564): Vivitur Ingenio. La muestra, que parte de los fondos de la biblioteca de la Institución, propietaria de cuatro copias de la primera edición del tratado, dos de la segunda y la única conocida en color del Epitome, una adenda-resumen de los siete tomos coloreada a mano, quiere recordar la "innovación en fondo y forma" de la obra de Vesalio, a quien consideran merecedor de la calificación latina "vivitur ingenio" (tomada de la frase de Virgilio Vivitur ingenio, caeteris mortis erunt, "vida al genio, muerte a los otros"), por su "inclinación natural, capacidad innata y talento".
La exposición muestra varios apartados. Focus on the Frontispiece (Foco en el frontispicio) aprovecha un espectacular grabado coloreado donde Vesalio aparece diseccionando un cadáver y rodeado de estudiosos y público para mostrar la riqueza gráfica, popularidad y precisión que el anatomista quiso dar a la obra. Se sabe con certeza que entre los artistas seleccionados para las centenares de ilustraciones trabajó Jan Stephan Calcar (c. 1499-1546), un alumno destacado del taller de Tiziano, y se ha sugerido que el elenco de los pintores y grabadores contratados por Vesalio incluía también a Domenico Campagnola (c. 1500-1564).
Portraits of Physicians (Retratos de médicos) analiza cómo en el siglo XVI cambió de forma radical la forma de representar a los profesionales de la médicina, que hasta entonces no pasaban de aparecer como personas que simplemente sometían a exámenes visuales frascos con sangre y orina. La situación cambia y en el retrato de Calcar a Vesalius éste aparece, orgulloso y con cierta altanería en el gesto, sosteniendo un brazo diseccionado y sin piel para un estudio profundo de la anatomía.
En Selected Images from the Fabrica (Imágenes seleccionadas de La Estructura) se muestra una colección de los grabados espectaculares de la obra de Vesalio, quien deseaba no solo editar la publicación definitiva sobre la ciencia anatómica (que nunca se había mostrado con tanta exactitud, riqueza y tamaño), sino también impresionar al emperador Carlos de Haubsburgo, de quien llegó a ser médico personal y al que regaló la primera copia del libro, encuadernada en seda de color púrpura imperial y con ilustraciones pintadas a mano. La misma intención se adivina en Paper Bodies (Cuerpos de papel), sección dedicada a los complejos grabados de montajes por capas de los diversos sistemas orgánicos.
Memento mori y The Importance of Bones (La importancia de los huesos) se centran en los avances de Vesalio como estudioso del sistema de huesos del cuerpo, al que consideraba una arquitectura —de ahí el uso del término latino fabrica, estructura— de varios sistemas enlazados.
Vesalio ofreció, entre otros hallazgos, la primera descripción del esfenoides, demostró que el esternón tiene tres partes y describió el vestíbulo del hueso temporal; ofreció las primeras nociones sobre la estructura del píloro y la pleura y la explicación más correcta de la anatomía del cerebro hasta entonces. También refutó alguna de las ideas clave de Galeno, como que los vasos sanguíneos nacían del hígado, como puede verse en Veins and arteries (Venas y arterias).
Scenes of Dissection (Escenas de disección) traza la historia de esta práctica, común desde la Edad Media, pero celebrada primero en recintos cerrados y con limitación de entrada y progresivamente en locales abiertos al público, incluso en teatros. Un último capítulo de la exposición está dedicado al impacto de la obra de Vesalio sobre sus sucesores, que la usaron como libro de referencia y la ampliaron con notas y adendas.
La personalidad del padre de la anatomía —nada humilde, seguro de sí mismo y con contactos en toda Europa— y su dedicación —siguió campañas militares para examinar las heridas de guerra in situ— son innegables para Sachiko Kusukawa, coordinador de la exposición en línea. "Sólo tenía 28 años cuando editó la obra y ya era un consumado médico y anatomista que había logarado hacerse un nombre por sí mismo y desarrollado conexiones en toda Europa. Sus retratos sugieren que confiaba plenamente en sus habilidades. Hoy probablemente lo etiquetaríamos como temerario".
• Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) and the Books that Made the Father of Anatomy
Text kindly provided by The University of Cambridge
Born 500 years ago, Andreas Vesalius has iconic status in the history of science. Cambridge University Library holds several copies of the remarkable books that he published to revive the lost art of anatomy and promote his own career as a physician. Historian Dr Sachiko Kusukawa has curated an online exhibition to celebrate Vesalius's achievements.
"Vesalius's books were complex statements about classical ideals of medicine and the role of anatomy. They demonstrated through their beautiful illustrations his grasp of human anatomy, and the detailed knowledge he’d acquired through carrying out dissections" (Sachiko Kusukawa).
Andreas Vesalius was an ambitious young man who was not shy of self-publicity. Born in Flanders 500 years ago, he had his eye on one of the most prestigious roles in medicine. He sought an appointment as personal physician to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. To optimise his chances, Vesalius set out to demonstrate his extensive knowledge of the workings of the human body. One of the ways he did this was to publish in 1543 an extraordinary tome known as the Fabrica, in reference to its Latin title which translates as ‘Seven books on the fabric of the human body’.
Vesalius dedicated the Fabrica to Charles V and presented the Emperor with a copy of what must be the ultimate CV. “Vesalius was only 28 when he produced the Fabrica and its companion piece the Epitome. He was already an accomplished physician and anatomist. He’d made a name for himself and developed connections all over Europe. His portrayal of himself in his books suggests that he was supremely confident of his abilities. Today we would probably label him as brash,” said Dr Sachiko Kusukawa, who has curated an online exhibition celebrating the 500th anniversary of the birth of Vesalius on the Cambridge University Library website.
In keeping with his objective of promoting his career, Vesalius appears centre stage in the illustration on the frontispiece of the Fabrica. As the historian Dr Andrew Cunningham explains in a short film for the exhibition, Vesalius shows himself as the star of the show, performing a dissection surrounded by crowds of admirers. Most striking are three figures in togas who represent the learning of the ancient world. They are Galen, Aristotle and Hippocrates and their presence in the picture underlines the way in which the scientists of the Renaissance were reviving the hands-on practice of anatomy in classical times after a long period in which it had fallen from favour.
Almost as remarkable as the Fabrica is the Epitome, also published by Vesalius in 1543 and presented to Charles V’s son, the future Philip II of Spain. Now considered watershed publications in the history of anatomy, these books were innovative in both content and form. By means of his text and illustrations, Vesalius sought to restore the art of anatomy to its rightful place as the foundation of medicine. With their daring use of a range of visual devices – from full-length posed figures to classical sculptures to paper pop-ups to illustrate the positions of the organs – both books are nothing less than works of art.
Scholars have been unable to discover how many copies of the Fabrica or the Epitome were produced – but it is likely to have been between 300 and 500 copies, judging from other scientific books of the period. The surviving copies are now scattered worldwide in public and private collections where they are considered rare and precious treasures that capture the essence of an era awakening to scientific endeavour. On the rare occasions that copies come up for sale they change hands for sums that reflect their historical significance as books produced by a man often described as the ‘father of modern anatomy’. In 1998 a copy of the Fabrica that had been presented to Charles V was sold by Christie’s auction house for $1,652,000.
By virtue of Cambridge University’s 800-year-old history, and its legacy of well-endowed libraries and generous benefactions, the University Library is fortunate to have, in its collection of 16th century medical texts, four copies of the first edition and two copies of the second edition of the Fabrica. In addition, the Library has a unique hand-coloured copy of the Epitome once owned by the Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge, Alexander Macalister (1844-1919).
Everything about these books is designed to impress those who came into contact with them. “The Fabrica and Epitome were lavish productions which reflect the skills of the very best artists and craftsman. The wood blocks were cut in Italy and the books were printed in Basel which was then an important centre for printing. These were not text books aimed at students and nor were they made to be taken into the dissection theatre or to the bedsides of the sick or injured," said Kusukawa.
"Rather, Vesalius's books were complex statements about classical ideals of medicine and the role of anatomy. They demonstrated through their beautiful illustrations his grasp of human anatomy, and the detailed knowledge he’d acquired through carrying out dissections. Such books would have been purchased by learned medical colleagues to add to prized collections of weighty tomes of knowledge."
“At a time when most medical texts were small notebooks, Vesalius opted for a big-is-beautiful approach. The Fabrica measures 43 cm by 27 cm and the Epitome is even larger at 55.8 cm by 37.4 cm – and their generous dimensions allowed Vesalius to commission illustrations that work on a grand scale. The illustrations are wood cuts. It’s a technique in which the space between the lines in finished image is created by using a knife to cut away the surface of the wood block and the skills required to achieve the fine lines in the illustrations are quite exceptional,” said Kusukawa.
No-one knows for certain the identity of the artists whom Vesalius commissioned to produce the 300 or so illustrations that feature in the Fabrica and Epitome – though past scholars have speculated that Vesalius worked with the Venetian painter Titian or one of his pupils. What is certain is that Vesalius must have collaborated closely with his artists and craftsman to translate his first-hand knowledge of the anatomy and morphology of the human body into drawings. As a fusion of science and art, the illustrations reflect the artistic conventions of the Renaissance – for example in the stance of the human figures and the idyllic landscape backdrops in which they are posed.
An ingenious use of paper cut-outs and pop-ups to show the positioning of the organs in the body was developed by Vesalius in partnership with the artists and craftspeople involved in the production of his books. They are a neat solution to the problem of showing how the body is composed of layers and how its component parts work together. Decorated initial letters to the sections of and within the books are another notable feature. Each decorated letter tells a story relevant to the text: one shows grave robbing for corpses to dissect, another suggests how to boil a body in a cauldron, and yet another how to articulate a skeleton.
Vesalius means weasel and it was a name of which the great anatomist was proud. The illustration for the frontispiece of the Fabrica is topped by a coat of arms bearing three weasels and held aloft by a pair of chubby putti. Vesalius’s strategy to impress the powerful inner circle of Charles V paid off: in 1543, immediately after the publication of the Fabrica, he was appointed physician to the Holy Roman Emperor. Five hundred years after his birth, copies of the books he produced exist in the collections of one of the world’s most important and extensive libraries. The Fabrica and Epitome continue to impress all who see them – and now for the first time they can be viewed online with an accompanying commentary highlighting some of their remarkable features and setting them in historical context.
In her book Picturing the book of nature: image, text, and argument in sixteenth-century human anatomy and medical botany (University of Chicago Press, 2012) Sachiko Kusukawa discusses some of the images that feature in the Fabrica and Epitome.
• Vesalius: "I am not accustomed to saying anything with certainty after only one or two observations."
Importancia y legado de Vesalius
Nicolás Copérnico y Andreas Vesalius son dos hombres clave para la ciencia moderna. En tiempos del Renacimiento, ambos trabajaron partiendo de la observación directa de sus respectivos objetos de estudio. Copérnico pertenece al área de la astronomía y escribió De revolutionibus orbium caelestium; Vesalius llevó a cabo las primeras disecciones completas del cuerpo humano y es autor de una obra titulada De humani corporis fábrica (Sobre la estructura del cuerpo humano).
Andreas Vesalius es el fundador de la anatomía científica moderna.
A través de su investigación y publicaciones, Vesalius se propuso cambiar el método didáctico, emplear ilustraciones, corregir a Galeno e incorporar nuevos hallazgos.
Vesalius perteneciá a una familia con varias generaciones dedicadas al servicio médico de diferentes soberanos europeos.
Se educó en Bruselas y Lovaina donde, entre otras materias, aprendió latín, griego, árabe y hebreo.
Vesalius basó sus estudios anatómicos en la observación directa, realizó estudios basados en disecciones de cuerpos humanos, replanteó la medicina de su época y expuso una nueva forma de replantear el conocimiento existente.
Dedicó su obra al emperador Carlos V.
El su Fabrica, Vesalius presenta sus estudios de los músculos; venas, arterias y nervios; vísceras; estructura ósea.
Publicó además el Epitome, versión abreviada de su trabajo para estudiantes de medicina, dedicándosela al entonces príncipe Felipe. En el Epítome, Vesalius trata los aspectos destacados de toda disección.
En su Fabrica, Vesalius provee la primera descripción completa de los huesos esfenoides, el sacro y el esternón, el vestíbulo, el omento, el píloro, el apéndice, el mediastino y la pleura.
Vesalius es el descubridor de la vena ácigos y el ductus venosus.
Provee una valiosas descripciones del corazón y el cerebro.
Durante años Vesalius trabajó como médico imperial, dedicándose posteriormente a la enseñanza en varias universidades europeas. Finalmente realizó una peregrinación a Tierra Santa.
Aportes de Vesalius al conocimiento anatómico:
• Sustituye la anatomía libresca de los glosadores de Galeno por otra, fiel a la realidad y basada en su propia experiencia de disector.
• Corrige numerosos errores descriptivos de Galeno.
• Añade varios descubrimientos y nuevas metodologías de trabajo.
• Describe con claridad numerosísimas partes del cuerpo humano.
• Utiliza con habilidad, belleza y eficacia inéditas ilustraciones anatómicas, que transformaran el modo de trabajar de sus colegas, tanto médicos como artistas.
Andreas Vesalius's De Humani Corporis Fabrica is one of the most influential works in the history of Western medicine. It was conceived and written by 28-year-old Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a professor at the University of Padua. Vesalius was both a gifted dissector and a learned scholar whose great contribution was to apply to anatomy the critical methods developed by the Renaissance humanist scholars.
Vesalius was 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 Fabrica. Andreas Vesalius therefore remains a hallowed figure in medical historical circles.
Recursos
• Vulgariser et divulger: l’héritage médiéval
• Johannes de Ketham (Hans von Kircheim of Swabia), Fasiculo de Medicina, Venice: 1491-93 + images gallery. Incls. Disection of a cadaver whilst reading Mondino dei Luzzi's Anathomia. The Fasiculo de medicina is a “bundle” of six independent and quite different medieval medical treatises; the collection, which existed only in two manuscripts (handwritten copies), was first printed in 1491, in the original Latin with the title, Fasciculus medicinae. The book is remarkable as the first illustrated medical work to appear in print.
• Hieronymus Brunschwig, Liber de arte distillandi, Strasbourg, 1512 + images gallery. Hieronymus Brunschwig’s Liber de arte distillandi, printed in Strasbourg in 1512, is a practical manual on chemical, alchemical, and distillation devices and techniques used to manufacture drug therapies. It includes instructions on how to distill aqua vitae, potable gold, artificial and natural balsams and how to use distillates to treat illnesses in surgical cases.
• Fundamentos históricos de la medicina: Vesalio - La anatomía descriptiva basada en la disección de cadáveres humanos
• Historia de la Medicina
• Vivitur Ingenio
• Tabulae Anatomicae, Fabrica, Epitome
• De humani corporis fabrica libri septem + images gallery. Consulted ed.: Joannis Oporini, 1543. De Humani Corporis Fabrica (On the Fabric of the Human Body) is one of the most influential works in the history of Western medicine. It was conceived and written by 28-year-old Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a professor at the University of Padua. Vesalius was both a gifted dissector and a learned scholar whose great contribution was to apply to anatomy the critical methods developed by the Renaissance humanist scholars.
• Epitome
• Commons: Andreas Vesalius + De humani corporis fabrica
• Pinterests Collection
• Andrea Vesalio, ovvero la rinascita della medicina attraverso l'anatomia
• Vesalius Continuum + Conference
Ref. Educación, Conferencias, Actividades sin fines de lucro, Cultura, Ciencia, Medicina, Anatomía, Artes Visuales, Disección, Ilustración, Rio de Janeiro, Consulado Geral da Bélgica, Brasil.
