Antall József szerk.: Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts / Orvostörténeti Közlemények – Supplementum 5. (Budapest, 1972)

Pictures from the Past of the Healing Arts (Guide for the Exhibition)

II. THE BIRTH OF MODERN MEDICINE The critical view of the modern searching mind influenced by the Renaissance demanded the reevaluation of the classics. The discovery of printing made the newly translated works accessible to an ever increasing number of readers. Owing to the geographical discoveries new drugs (ipecacuanha, guaiacum, chinin) came to be used in medical practice. Renaissance art called attention to anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci was its pioneer and reached its first peak in the work of Vesalius. Leonardo studied the anatomy of the human body in order to be able to achieve in his paintings and sculptures a more true representation of life. With Vesalius

, on the other hand, anatomy became a science in the service of medicine. The wars of religion contributed to the development of practical medicine, especially surgery. The most prominent of the military practitioners was Ambroise Pare' (1510-159°)> who - beyond the practice obtained on the battlefields - perceived the importance of anatomical knowledge based on the anatomy of Vesalius and thus opened a new period in the history of practical surgery. The great figure ot the age, Paracelsus (1493-1541) professor in the University of Basle is said to have publicly burned the books of Galen and Avicenna to emphasize his view that healing must be based on direct experience. Englands has also given a great genius to medicine in the person of William Harvey (1578-1657) the discoverer of blood circulation. Though not a physician, Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) the great natural scientist of the Netherlands made a name for himself also in the history of medicine by the discovery of the microscope. I. Rebirth of Medicine in the i6th-iyth centuries a) Vesalius and Modern Anatomy Andreas Vesalius, the founder of modern anatomy (1514-1564) was the son of a court pharmacist in Brussels. Already as a young boy he was interested in the natural sciences, especially anatomy. He studied first at the University of Loųvain, afterwards at the famous University of Paris, then Loųvain again and Brussels. He was granted the title of Doctor of Medicine in 1537 in Padua. He was appointed professor of surgery and anatomy in the same university, when only 24 years of age. He worked with passionate energy and unfailing diligence. He completed the manuscript of his fundamental work on August 1 1542. The book, entitled "De humani corporis fabrica libri septem" ('The Fabric of the Human Body, in Seven Books') was printed at the famous Oporonius