Introduction
Anatomy was developed in early modern Europe based on the dissection of human and animal bodies and animal vivisections. The opening and exploration of dead bodies as a means of accessing knowledge began to be practiced in the second half of the thirteenth century, particularly in northern Italy, and became more and more widespread from the end of the fifteenth century. Anatomy then underwent a tremendous expansion, not only becoming central to medical and surgical knowledge but, beyond that, a “branch of natural philosophy,” as Andreas Vesalius wrote in the Preface of his De humani corporis fabrica, published in Basel in 1543. Dedicated to the production of knowledge on the body that has gone beyond the limits of its mere usefulness for medicine, anatomy rapidly came to play a central part in the culture of early modern Europe.
Based on the segmentation of the body, on the exploration of its interior through the use of the anatomist’s hand and eye, anatomy has been a...
References
Baglivi G (1700) De fibra motrice et morbosa. Girolamo Costantini, Perugia
Benedetti A (1502) Historia corporis humani sive anatomice. Bernardino Guerralda, Venice
Berengario da Carpi G (1521) Commentaria cum amplissimis additionibus super anatomia Mundini. Girolamo Benedetti, Bolonia
Bertoloni Meli D (1997) Marcello Malpighi: anatomist and physician. Leo S. Olschkierc, Florence
Carlino A (1994) La fabbrica del corpo. Libri e dissezione nel Rinascimento. Einaudi, Torino
Casseri G (1627) Tabulæ anatomicæ LXXIIX. Evangelista Deuchini, Venice
Colombo R (1559) De re anatomica libri XV. Nicolò Bevilacqua, Venice
De Angelis S (2010) Anthropologien. Genese und Konfiguration einer “Wissenschaft vom Menschen” in der Frühen Neuzeit. De Gruyter, Berlin
Du Laurens A (1600) Historia anatomica humani corporis. Jamet Mettayer, Marc Orry, Paris
Estienne C (1545) De dissectione partium corporis humani libri tres. Simon de Colines, Paris
Fabrici d’Acquapendente G (1603) De venarum ostiolis. Lorenzo Pasquati, Padova
Fernel J (1542) De naturali parte medicinæ libri septem. Simon de Colines, Paris
Ferrari G (1987) Public anatomy lessons and the carnival: the anatomy theater of Bologna. Past Present 117:50–106
French RK (1985) Berengario da Carpi and the use of commentary in anatomical teaching. In: Wear A et al (eds) The medical renaissance of the sixteenth century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Galen (1854) De l’utilité des parties du corps. In: Charles Daremberg C (ed) Œuvres anatomiques, physiologiques et médicales de Galien, vol 1. Baillière, Paris
Harvey W (1628) Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus. Wilhelm Fitzer, Frankfurt
Jacquart D, Micheau F (1990) La Médecine arabe et l’Occident médiéval. Maisonneuve et Larose, Paris
Klestinec C (2004) A history of anatomy theaters in sixteenth-century Padua. J Hist Med Allied Sci 59(3):375–412
Klestinec C (2007) Civility, comportment, and the anatomy theater: Girolamo Fabrici and his medical students in Renaissance Padua. Renaissance Q 60:434–463
Mandressi R (2003) Le Regard de l’anatomiste: dissections et invention du corps en Occident. Le Seuil, Paris
Mandressi R (2005) Métamorphoses du commentaire: projets éditoriaux et formation du savoir anatomique au XVIe siècle. Gesnerus 62(3–4):165–185
Mandressi R (2008) Técnicas de disección y tácticas demostrativas: instrumentos, procedimientos y orden del pensamiento en la cultura anatómica de la primera modernidad. Historia y grafía 30:167–189
Mandressi R (2013) Médecine et discours sur l’homme dans la première modernité. Rev Synth 134(4):511–536
Mandressi R (2015) Of the eye and of the hand: performance in early modern anatomy. TDR: J Perform Stud 59(3):60–76
Pancino C, Olmi G (eds) (2012) Anatome: Sezione, scomposizione, raffigurazione del corpo fra medioevo e età moderna. Bononia University Press, Bolonia
Riolan J (1648) Encheiridium anatomicum et pathologicum. Gaspar Meturas, Paris
Vesalius A (1543) De humani corporis fabrica libri septem. Oporinus, Basel
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mandressi, R. (2020). Anatomy in the Early Modern Period. In: Jalobeanu, D., Wolfe, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_564-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-20791-9_564-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-20791-9
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities