Art and learning were focused on the church and religion. But at the beginning of the 15th century, many lost interest in thinking about God, heaven and the saints. The readings of ancient Greek and Roman writings on scientific matters, philosophy, and art caused a good portion of this change. Their interest changed to thinking about themselves, their surroundings and their everyday lives. A Change in the Renaissance began as early as the 1500s when Andreas Vesalius, began teaching his students animal dissection rather than by study as Galen did.
In 1539, an Italian judge gave Vesalius the privilege to dissect executed criminals, which changed then the study of anatomy forever. Suddenly, structures that were formerly only imagined could be visualized, touched, and cut open to reveal hints of their living function. During the Renaissance, scholars and artists throughout Europe were taking a renewed interest in the classical sculptures of Ancient Greece and Rome, and Vesalius was tapping into the spirit of the times.
Andrea Vesalius was the man who changed they way anatomy was viewed born in December of 1514 in Brussels, which is known as modern day, Belgium. He came from a Flemish family involved in a long practice of academic involvement in medicine that served at the Holy Roman emperor. Vesalius attended the Catholic University of Leuven (Rogers pg54) as said in the 100 most influential Scientist of all time from 1529 to 1533. At a very young age he was interested in biology and began dissecting any kind of animal he could snatch, from moles, mice to cats, dogs and even weasels.
As a teenager he studied at the University of Paris for three years where he had the chance to dissect human cadavers. He dedicated an abundant amount of his time studying human bones, which at that time was easily accessible at the Paris cemeteries. During his time studying at the University of Paris, he noticed error after error in the philosophies of Galen. Galen was a Greek Physician who exercised a dominant impact on medical theory and training in the middles ages.
Galen’s physiology was a concoction of ideas taken from the philosophers Plato and Aristotle as well as Hippocrates who could be recognized as the source of all medical learning. Vesalius began to free himself from the incorrect authority of Galen. Vesalius infuriated many by going against the teachings of Aristotle, Galen and others. People began writing and speaking against him. After all desecrating was sternly forbidden by the Roman religion. Even with people claiming that he was wrong and going against him he still continued to go after what he so strongly believed in.
In 1543 Vesalius wrote the very first anatomy textbook, he wrote a 7 volume book titled The Fabric of the Human Body (De Humani Corporis Fabrica known as Fabrica. While working on his masterpiece the Fabrica, Vesalius realized, the errors in Galen’s work because Galen had taken his evidence from animal bodies and not human bodies. By investigating into the workings of the human body, Vesalius was able to correct 200 previously unquestioned theories, for example that the lower jaw contains only one bone, not two as Galen’s animal studies had led him to believe.
He utilized all his humanistic, scientific, and visual gifts. Fabrica was an accurate description of the human body. He included explanations for each sketch. These texts are written in classical Latin. . Fabrica was famous for its detailed and attractively drafted illustrations with over 300 diagrams made by students. He employed a range of skilled draftsmen to work on the illustrations, including Jan Stephan Van Calcar, a student of the painter Titian. A number of the drawings in the Fabrica have used classical sculptures, such as the Belvedere Torso, as models.
In many of the illustrations the figures are posing in worldly or dramatic positions, and often they stand before beautiful landscapes. From an art, history, and medicine standpoint his work was useful. It was a wonderful example of Renaissance art. Its illustrations show the complex constructions of the muscles, nervous system, blood vessels, viscera and skeleton. In the famous ‘muscle men’ pictures, the skin and muscles appear to be gradually unwrapping themselves, falling away from the bodies in order to reveal the complicated system of muscles beneath.
This book gave anatomy a brand new language. Like most unfamiliar ideas Fabrica stirred up disagreement between the Catholic Church who strongly believed that dissection of human cadavers was out right wrong not only was the church upset but also fellow Scientists who thought Galen was right. In proving Galen wrong Vesalius changed Anatomy. Vesalius is considered to be the Father of Human Anatomy. During the Renaissance period student physicians did not have to attend dissections as they have to in todays day in age.
Instead they were expected to learn from the teachings of the Greek physician Galan. For nearly 1000 years after Galan’s death almost no new anatomical inquiries were implemented, mainly because the Church was against the dissection of human bodies. From the 1200s onwards, some dissections were carried out, but not many – surgeons had to rely on the corpses of executed criminals, and these were in short supply. Also, without fridges there were no way to preserve the bodies, so dissections could only be performed during the winter when temperatures were icy.
Therefore, only a certain amount of students would have had the capability of appearing in a dissection in person. Vesalius’s work brought a great deal of changes to the study of anatomy. Most significantly, Vesalius constantly stressed the idea that students must not rely on the teachings of their elders, but must explore the inner workings of the human body for themselves. The truth is under the skin, and is not essentially hidden in dusty textbooks. The renaissance in a way has never ended its overflowing and origination in science, business, art, and everyday life. Are shaping our future today.