Put the images into this blog and include a link to the web page from which you obtained the image – http://svapicsandmags.com/2011/10/16/sk-sk-sk-skeletons/
The Blog for Medicine and Religion 202, Spring 2014
Put the images into this blog and include a link to the web page from which you obtained the image – http://svapicsandmags.com/2011/10/16/sk-sk-sk-skeletons/
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Vesalius_Fabrica_p372.jpga
Sorry, here is the correct link for the image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Vesalius_Fabrica_p372.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Vesalius_Fabrica_p190.jpg
I chose this image, because I believe it portrays the cadaver in a very allegorical position, (arms outstretched, being let down from a rope). The church was a huge influence in the 16th century, and all science was subject to their influence. Scientists were prosecuted for upsetting the belief system of the Church, indeed, a council was formed to determine whether Vesalius’ books had infringed on the word of god. Thus the body, portrayed int he same position as Jesus, when on the cross, is perhaps a reminder that the church its still the final authority, or perhaps it is a statement that Jesus was just a man, with the same insides as you or I.
Although this image doesn’t directly convey any of Vesalius’ anatomical discoveries, I think the way he is depicted by the artist is very interesting. Specifically, the way he is framed by corpses acting as if they are alive and displaying different parts of the human anatomy- a bit creepy if you ask me.
http://bijijoo.com/blog/hyrax/2010/08/Andreas-Vesalius.jpg
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/Images/1200_pixels/Vesalius_Pg_419.jpg
This image shows the nervous system in isolation with the brain. The vagus nerve starts from the brain rather than the heart supporting the idea that the brain is central to the nervous system which was contrary to the beliefs of the time. I find this particular image interesting because you can trace the nerves and clearly see how the pathways of the sensory nerves correspond to facial features.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/Images/1200_pixels/Vesalius_Pg_609.jpg
The image in the link above is straight from Vasalius’ human anatomy text book as well. I thought it was really interesting in that it is one of the first documented dissections of the human brain showing all of the different parts labeled with different letters from the alphabet. It clearly exemplifies the lateral ventricles in the center, and I think the mustache is a nice touch.
This image is the frontispiece of Vesalius’ 1543 book “De humani corporis fabrica librorum epitome” (On the Fabric of the Human Body) in which he is pictured at the center of a crowded dissection theater. Seeing as Vesalius revolutionized European medicine by discovering what the human anatomy actually entailed via hands-on dissection of human cadavers, it is no wonder that in doing so, he attracted crowds, and disciples depicted here.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/images/s127.jpg
This image from Vesalius’ anatomy text shows a cross section of the human brain. In particular, this illustration is significant because it reveals part of the brain stem as well as the source of other nerves. This observation, coupled with his finding that nerves were responsible for transmitting sensations and other signals throughout the body, meant that Vesalius had obtained some empirical physiological proof that the brain controlled emotional responses rather than the heart, as proposed by Aristotle and widely accepted up until this time.
http://webvision.med.utah.edu/imageswv/BottomBrain.jpg
Image source:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/Images/1200_pixels/Vesalius_Pg_200.jpg (Please click on link to view image; cannot attach images to comment).
I selected this image because it comes straight from Vesalius’ anatomy textbook; he contrasts the sides of the body by showing different layers of tissue, and labels the muscles, which may be turned outward from their anatomical position. This shows a great leap in comparative human anatomy and looks shockingly similar to anatomical drawings today. This means that his contribution of human anatomical dissections was about to stand the test of time as being reliable and replicable between anatomists. The other interesting thing about this image is that the body stands in a landscape much like the agricultural art of its time. Therefore I imagine perhaps Vesalius still tentatively approached anatomy as an art in some respects rather than a hard science.
In addition, I found this link to a full PDF copy of his anatomy textbook via NIH, complete with fun scroll-over facts on several pages:
http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/flash/vesalius/vesalius.html