Medieval and Renaissance Illustrations - CLAS 3239 | Ancient Medicine: The Classical Roots of the Medical Humanities - Brooklyn College Library LibGuides Home at Brooklyn College Library

Roman de La Rose

Agrippina and Nero
The Roman Emperor Nero looking on as the body of his mother Agrippina is disemboweled, in order to see the place where he was conceived. From Roman de la Rose. c 1490-c 1500. By Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. f. 59v, Image from British Library Typepad.
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The Roman de la Rose is an allegorical poem about courtship, love and a gentleman’s pursuit of ideal love (represented by the rose), experienced in a dream by the narrator. The text of the Roman de la Rose was begun around 1220, possibly by Guillaume de Lorris, and continued by Jean de Meun between 1269 and 1278. The text of the Roman de la Rose was begun around 1220, possibly by Guillaume de Lorris, and continued by Jean de Meun between 1269 and 1278. The text of this manuscript was copied from a printed edition published at Lyon, probably around 1487 (see Kren and McKendrick, Illuminating the Renaissance (2003), no. 120)- See more at: http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/music/#sthash.o5mlZ13B.dpuf

Celsus Manuscript

Aulus Corenlius Celsus: De Medicina
Aulus Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Plut. 73.4, folio 17r, 15th c.: Digital Collection: The MacKinney Collection of Medieval Medical Illustration

Celsian Lithotomy (Operation for Bladder Stones)

Celsian Lithotomy (Operation for Bladder Stones)
Illustrated manuscript of Rolandus Parmensis' 'Chirurgia' (circa 1300) depicting an operation for removing bladder stones (see Sec. 3.34) based upon Celsus' 'De Medicina' (cf. 7.26, see also Rogerius' Chirurgia 3.41-43).

Galen

Galen Cautery scene: Art of medicine
London, British Library, Sloane 2839, folio 1v Galen. Hippocrates.
Scene: Surgeon holds bowl, cautery irons in fire; nude figure with cautery points marked (right)
Date: 11th-12th centuries

Averroes

Imaginary debate between Averroes and Porphyry
Monfredo de Monte Imperiali Liber de herbis, 14th century.[18]
Monfredo de Monte Imperiali - Monfredo de Monte Imperiali "Liber de herbis", 14th century. Reproduction in "Inventions et decouvertes au Moyen-Age", Samuel Sadaune

Illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci

Vitruvian Man
Da Vinci's famous illustration entitled 'Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio' (The Proportions of the Body according to Vitruvius), or simply 'Vitruvian Man' (1490). The image demonstrates da Vinci's attempts to relate the human body to the rules of mathematics and nature. Illustrated using pen and ink, with wash over metal point on paper. 34.4 cm × 25.5 cm (13.5 in × 10.0 in)
Anatomical Studies of the Arm
Illustrations and descriptions from the notes of Leonardo da Vinci (ca. 1510) demonstrating the movements made by the biceps. Source: http://www.drawingsofleonardo.org/
Studies of the Fetus in the Womb
Colored annotated sketch by Leonardo da Vinci (ca. 1510–1513), depicting the development and position of the fetus in the human body with greater accuracy than any previous artist or scientist. Da Vinci based his embryological drawings on observations of a fetus within a cadaver, which he conducted alongside the anatomist Marcatonio della Torre.

Thomas Hobbes on the Optic Nerve

Hobbes on the Optic Nerve
A drawing of the connection of the eye and the brain, part of Thomas Hobbes's treatise on optics (1646): London, British Library, MS 3360, f. 6r.
The manuscript of Thomas Hobbes's tract, A Minute or first Draught of the Optiques, is now available online on the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site.

Heymandus

Zodiac man
L0004437 Credit: Wellcome Library, London
Zodiac man from Ars computistica. Manuscript by Heymandus de Veteri Busco.
1488 By: Heymandus de Veteri Busco
Folio 22 recto
Collection: Archives & Manuscripts
Library reference no.: WMS 349

Dioscorides

Illustration from manuscript of Dioscorides 'De Materia Medica' (mandrake)
Folio 90v of Naples manuscript (7th century) of 'De Materia Medica' (redaction), a text on herbalism by Dioscorides, a first century BCE Greek military physician. Dioscorides' text includes descriptions of plants and their medicinal uses, but unlike the original text of 'De Materia Medica', this manuscript text is arranged alphabetically by plant. Manuscript in Biblioteca Nazionale, Naples (MS Suppl. gr. 28), 172 folios and a page size of 29.7 x 14 cm (11 11/16 x 5 1/2 inches). Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Vienna Dioscorides
The Vienna Dioscurides is an early 6th-century illuminated manuscript of De Materia Medica by Dioscorides in Greek. It is an important and rare example of a late antique scientific text. The 491 vellum folios measure 37 by 30 cm and contain more than 400 pictures of animals and plants, most done in a naturalistic style.
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In addition to the text by Dioscorides, the manuscript has appended to it the Carmen de herbis attributed to Rufus, a paraphrase of an ornithological treatise by a certain Dionysius, usually identified with Dionysius of Philadelphia, and a paraphrase of Nicander's treatise on the treatment of snake bites.

The manuscript was created in about 515 and was made for the Western Roman imperial princess Juliana Anicia, the daughter of Emperor Anicius Olybrius. Although it was originally created as a luxury copy, there is some indication that in later centuries it was used daily as a hospital textbook. It includes some annotations in Arabic.[1]

The manuscript was discovered in Istanbul in the 1560s by the Flemish diplomat Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq who was in the employ of Emperor Ferdinand I. The Emperor bought the manuscript and it is now held in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna, where it is identified as the "Codex Vindobonensis med. gr. 1."
Scan aus: Pedanius Dioscorides — Der Wiener Dioskurides: Codex medicus Graecus 1 der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt (Glanzlichter der Buchkunst) Band 8/1 ISBN 3-201-01699-3 fol. 4 verso. Erläuterung: Kommentar von Otto Mazal, S. 22ff: Wikimedia commons
7 Doctors: Vienna Dioscurides
The most prominent and only one sitting on a chair is Galen. He is flanked by three pairs of other physicians, seated on stones or the ground. Closest to Galen are Crateuas and Dioscurides. The second pair are Apollonius Mys and Nicander. Farthest from Galen are Andreas and Rufus. Each of the figures is a self-contained portrait and was probably modeled on authors' portraits from the various authors' treatises. The seven figures are contained within an elaborate decorated frame. The background is solid gold, which places the figures in an abstract space. This is the earliest known manuscript to use a solid gold background.

Folding Almanac

Physician's Folding Almanac
A page from a 15th century physician's folding almanac: London, British Library, MS Harley 3812, f. 5v.

Vertebra Reduction by Jolting on a Ladder

Vertebra Reduction by Jolting on a Ladder
Illustration in a manuscript of 'Dislocations' (see chap. 2), a text written by Apollonius of Kiton (fl. ca. 60 BCE). In the procedure depicted here, a patient was tied to a ladder which was to be dropped to the ground vertically in an attempt to jolt the vertebrae back into alignment. While this procedure was no doubt lacking in medical efficacy, it appears to have been successful in attracting crowds as a sort of medical spectacle (cf. Nutton 2013: 96). This procedure is also described in the Hippocratic text 'On Joints' (chap. 44).

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
Painting by Rembrandt (1632). Currently housed in the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis (The Hague, Netherlands). Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Medieval Physician Examining a Patient's Urine

Medieval Physician Conducting Urinalysis
Medieval Illustration of a physician examining a patient's urine. Urinalysis was considered important diagnostic tool from the time of the Hippocratics through the Middle Ages, as it was thought to provide insight into the state of a person's humours and other aspects of the interior of the body.

Dissection of a Cadaver (15th century painting)

Dissection of a Cadaver (15th century painting)
Dissection scene from 'Le Livre des Proprietes des Choses' (The Book on the Properties of Things) by Barthelemy l'Anglais. Image from Wikimedia Commons; also see: http://www.biol.unlp.edu.ar/images/anatomia/anatomia-antiguavesalio.jpg

CLAS 3239 | Ancient Medicine: The Classical Roots of the Medical Humanities: Medieval and Renaissance Illustrations

Roman de La Rose

Celsus Manuscript

Celsian Lithotomy (Operation for Bladder Stones)

Galen

Averroes

Illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci

Thomas Hobbes on the Optic Nerve

Heymandus

Dioscorides

Folding Almanac

Vertebra Reduction by Jolting on a Ladder

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

Medieval Physician Examining a Patient's Urine

Dissection of a Cadaver (15th century painting)