The Scientific Revolution

Lesson 4: Medicine in the Scientific Revolution

Anatomy and Medicine in Italian Universities

In the late sixteenth century, the medical schools of northern Italy and particularly the university of Padua built on the work of Vesalius to become the the centers of anatomical research (as can be seen in many Italian-based names for body organs).

This work built on Vesalius, but there was a shift of emphasis from Vesalius’s Galenic preoccupation with the structure of the body to an emphasis (ultimately derived from the biological works of Aristotle), on function, i.e. on what body parts actually did.

Among the innovative Italian anatomists of the late sixteenth century was Realdo Colombo, best known as a vivisector, a bitter critic and rival of Vesalius, and the "discoverer" of the clitoris. Bartolomeo Eustachi was one of the first to write anatomical monographs on particular organs and the namesake of the Eustachian tubes of the ear.

Two who followed Vesalius as Professors at Padua were Gabriele Fallopio (1523-1562), the first to describe what became known as the Fallopian tubes, and Girolamo Fabrici, known as Fabricius of Acquapendente (1533-1619). Fabricius changed the focus of anatomical study away from the exclusive study of the human body. Inspired by Aristotle, he wanted to investigate not just the structure of the body, but how the different body parts functioned in different animals.

Anatomy rose in status as a university discipline, particularly at Padua. Dissections moved from the lecture hall to the anatomical “theater," which was originally a temporary wooden building on the model of the ancient Roman theater. Its structure provided a better view of the body.

Professors continued in the tradition established by Vesalius to dissect the body themselves rather than delegating the work. The first permanent anatomical theater was founded at Padua in 1594, and one of the first chairs of anatomy, as distinct from surgery, was granted in 1609. The rise of dissection created new and worsened old problems. The most basic was where to get the bodies. Executed criminals were a common source. When a number of executions were scheduled in Padua, the city government would space them so as to suit the needs of the medical school. Since most executed criminals were male, this practice made it difficult to get female cadavers, particularly pregnant ones. Another important consideration was temperature.

The prime dissection season was the winter, when the cold temperatures kept the body in better condition during the dissection, which might take several days. The dissector needed a deft hand and strong stomach. Michelangelo was so sickened by the dissections he carried out in collaboration with the anatomist Colombo that he was unable to eat afterwards.

Another medical discipline in which Italian universities excelled was botany (although Germany also had excellent botanists.) The first university chairs in the study of plants were established in the Italian medical schools beginning at Padua in 1533.

The first large botanical garden incorporating plants from recently encountered areas of the world was founded at the University of Pisa in 1543 by the medical professor Luca Ghini (1490?-1556). It was quickly followed by the great garden at Padua in 1545. (The founding of a garden was only an early stage in its creation, and it could take decades for the original plan to be fulfilled in actuality.) Padua’s garden was connected to Padua’s medical preeminence, and the supervisor of the garden was the professor of pharmacology.