medicine in art.pdf

8/12/2019 medicine in art.pdf

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Medicine

in Art

Ram Nambi and Luke Dery


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M E D I C I N E I N A R T

Introduction .1

Ancient Medical Art.2

Medieval Art.3

Leonardo da Vinci.4

Vitruvian Man..5

Vitruvian Man Proportions.6Bones of the Arm..7

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp.8

Andreas Vesalius...9

De Humani corporis fabrica...10

The Brain..11

Anatomia..12

Bernard Albinus...13

Clara Rhinoceros..14

Muscle Group.15

Max Brodel16

Drawing of the Ear...17

Frank Netter..18

Modern Medical Art.19

Glossary..20

About the Authors21

Image Sources.22

Table of Contents


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Art is one of the most important ways to studying history be-

cause, from the Paleolithic era to Renaissance times, it has been the

only way to record past events. These paintings and artworks help us

learn about the past because they represent the accomplishments

and views of the time period from which they came. Similarly, art was

very essential in documenting the advancement of medical knowl-edge. Medical Illustrations help us learn about a cultures knowledge

and understanding of the human body through the course of time.


Renaissance-

A cultural

movement

between the

14th and

17th century

during which

the interestin classical

ideas was

revived.

Introduction

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Chinese Medicine

The Chinese Civilization, one of the oldest in the world, has

studied medicine since 13th century. The scholars of this time

thought of disease as an internal imbalance of yin and yang. The art

work from this time period reveals the treatment procedures that

were used by the Chinese. Some of these include acupunctureand

herbal medicine

Indian Medicine

Similar to China, ancient India also produced several medical

artworks. These outlined the procedures for the preparation andimplementation of medicinal techniques such as Ayurveda.


Acupuncture-

A process in

which needles

are inserted into

the skin in order

to influence and

heal the patient's

qi (energy) .

Ayurveda-

A plant and herb

based medical

treatment devel-

oped in Ancient

India.

Ancient Medical Art

Timeline: 1300 BC

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The Medieval period was the section of time between 500 and

1500 C.E. This time period followed the fall of Rome Civilization

when all pervious medical knowledge was lost. Medieval medicine

consisted largely of spiritual concepts such as Astrology and religious

healing. Medicine was not conducted scientifically. Instead, treatment

was based solely on the believes of the doctor and the patient.

The main principal of medicine during this time period was the

theory of humors. This concept claimed that every human had four

different fluids running through their body. These fluids included black

bile, Phlegm, blood, and Yellow Bile.


Medieval Art

Timeline: 1250 CE

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Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter, inventor, scientist, and

visionary who was born on April 15, 1452. Although he was a bril-

liant inventor , most of his ideas did not take shape because they

were so ahead of his time. He conceptualized flying machines and ar-

mored tanks that were extremely innovative and revolutionary. In

addition to inventing, Leonardo was an accomplished painter, and this

interest lead led him to explore the proportionality of the human

body. Although his resources were limited, by studying past works

and by performing autopsies, da Vinci was able to achieve a level of

medical knowledge that greatly surpassed that of his contemporaries.

Some of his most famous works include The Vitruvian Man and the

Bones of the Arm.

M E D I C I N E I N A R TLeonardo da Vinci

Timeline: 1475 CE

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The Vitruvian Man is an extremely well know drawing by Leo-

nardo da Vinci from 1487. This piece of art shows da Vincis ability to

draw and understand the human body. This artwork depicts two su-

perimposedimages of a man in two different positions. This draw-

ing was the model for medical illustrations for many centuries be-cause it accurately portrayed the proportionality of the human body;

therefore, this drawing is also known as the Canon of Proportions

and the Proportions of Man. This work is still significant today and is

often a symbol used to represent medical organizations and groups.


Superimposed-

To place one

thing on top of

another

Vitruvian Man

Timeline: 1487CE

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The Vitruvian Man is so well known because it shows that the

proportions of the human body were understood by early scholars.

Many of the proportions displayed in the Vitruvian Man have actually

been proven using science . For examples, the drawing show us that

our palm is the width of four fingers and that our feet are four palms

long. The height of the man is equal to 24 palms and also equal to his

arm span. The width of his shoulder is a quarter of his height, the

length of his ear is one third the length of his face, and the mans foot

is one sixth of his height. Not convinced that these are accurate? Try

it out and see if Leonardo da Vinci was right!

M E D I C I N E I N A R TVitruvian Man Proportions

Timeline: 1487 CE

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Bones of the Arm, like the Vitruvian Man, is another one of

Leonardo da Vincis medical illustrations. This drawing shows that

even back then, with limited technology, da Vinci had acquired an in

depth understanding of the anatomy of the human arm. In this dia-

gram, the arm is accurately portrayed as being made of smaller bone

segments. It can also be seen that the bones interconnect in different

ways and locations. Even the fingers are portrayed accurately as being

made of small segments connected with hinge joints. Even in todays

standards, Leonardo da Vincis Bones of the Arm is extremely de-

tailed and accurate.


Bones of the ArmTimeline: 1490 CE

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The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp was painted by Rembrandt

van Rijn. This oil painting features many different people observing

an autopsy. The first and most prominent is Dr. Nicolas Tulp, who is

giving the lecture about skeletal muscles in the body. The body, is

thought to be the corpse of Adriaan Adriaanszoon, who was a rob-

ber who had been hung for his crimes. Autopsies like the one in the

painting were considered public events, and were held in structures

called anatomical theaters, which charged admission fees for guild

colleagues, students, and other notable people. The spectators in the

painting are dressed in a festive manner, showing that these surgical

events were serious social occasions. Although this painting has a

few factual errors, it shows the nature of surgery and medical study

at the time of its painting.

M E D I C I N E I N A R

Rembrandt van

Rijn-

He was born on

July 15, 1606 and

embarked on an

iconic life of art

and sorrow. Af-

ter making many

works of art, in-

cluding the Anat-omy Lesson of

Dr. Tulp, he died

on October 4,

1669.

Artistic Error! -

A close analysis

of the dead body

in the painting

shows that the

raised muscle is

on the outside of

the elbow. In re-

ality, that muscle

is actually lo-

cated on the in-

side of the el-

bow.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp

Timeline: 1632 CE

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Andreas Vesalius was a major reorganizer of the study of anat-

omy. He was born in Brussels on the last day of the year 1514. It is

said that as a boy he was very interested in the dissection of animals.

He went to the University of Paris in 1533 and later received his de-

gree as a Doctor of Medicine in Venice and was appointed a professor

of anatomy and surgery in Padua. In 1538, he published the Tabulaeanatomicae, a book of his medical drawings about his medical investi-

gations. Towards the end of his life in 1564, he took a pilgrimage to

the Holy Land and strangely never returned. Overall, Vesalius was a

talented anatomist who painted many accurate diagrams that im-

proved the standard of medical illustrations.


Spooky Work

Andreas Vesalius

was involved in

some unusual

activities as a

student. When

he was studying

anatomy, Vesal-ius took bones

from cemeteries

and execution

sites to study.

Childhood Fun?

As a child, Vesal-

ius used to look

for dead animals

so that he could

dissect them.

Later in life, he

had become so

knowledgeable

at dissecting that

he was asked to

dissect a human

corpse in public.

Andreas VesaliusTimeline: 1550 CE

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De Humani corporis fabrica, which means On the Structure of

the Human Body, was a collection of radical medical literature pub-lished by Andreas Vesalius. As an expert on medicine who dissectedmany human bodies, Vesalius found mistakes in the ancient teachings ofAristotle and Galen. Vesalius De Corporis Fabrica pointed out these

flaws and gained him much fame in the medical world. In its time, it

was said to be the most complete medical work ever publishedIn the work itself, there are over two-hundred pieces of woodencarvings that detail various workings of the human anatomy. The bookthen shows the human body through anatomical models of the skeletaland muscular systems. These models depict the workings of the humanbody with detail and accuracy.

Timeline: 1550 CE

De Humani corporis fabrica

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Negative?

Vesalius

work on the

brain harshly

criticizes the

past work of

Galen. It is sonegative that

people often

refer to it as

a journal of

negative

results.

In his medical book De Corporis Fabrica, Vesalius also highlightsthe working of the human brain, especially the vascular system. In thesediagrams, Vesalius mainly depicts the structure of the nerves within thebrain. He was deeply interested by how the nerves controlled so muchof the body, and was very impressed by the power the brain has over

the body as a whole. His diagrams depicted nerves and the dissectedbrains, documenting his fascination with the nervous system.

The Brain

Timeline: 1550 CE

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Anatomia was painted by Bernardino Genga. This man wasborn in Mondolfo in the Duchy of Urbino in 1620. He later died in1690 in Rome. During his life, Genga was a surgeon in the Hospital ofSanto Spirito in Sassia. He was also a scholar who specialized instudying classical medical texts and even edited several works of Hip-pocrates Genga had a major interest in the preparation of anatomical

specimens, and was amazed by the anatomy of ancient Greek and Ro-man sculpture. He ended up working as a professor of anatomy at the

Accademia di Francia delle Belle Arti in Rome.

In 1672, Genga published the Anatomia chirurgica, a textbookfor surgeons, which taught them the workings of the human anatomy.A year after his death, his most famous work of art, Anatomia per usoet intelligenza del disegno, was published. This work was a depictionof the anatomical preparations done by Charles Errard, the director

of the Accademia di Francia delle Belle Arti.


Timeline: 1650 CE

Anatomia

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Albinus was born on February 24, 1697. He grew up and re-ceived his education in Brandenburg, Germany. He is a famous anato-mist who gained recognition for being the first person display theconnection between the vascular system of the mother and her fetus.Albinus attempted to make a more descriptive depiction of the hu-man anatomy, starting by drawing the skeleton rather than the out-

side of the body.

Albinus was the chair of anatomy, surgery and medicine at theUniversity of Leiden, until his death on September 9, 1770. His mostfamous work was Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani(orTables of the Skeleton and Muscles of the Human Body), which waspainted in 1747. Albinus worked alongside other physicians to make

sure that his medical illustrations were accurate.


Art Fact -

Albinus often

painted land-

scape back-

grounds along

with his medical

drawings to dis-

tract peoplefrom the vivid

and bloody na-

ture of the dis-

mantled bodies

depicted. In one

painting, Albinus

draws a skeleton

with muscles,

but counters the

disgusting realityof the body by

putting a rhinoc-

eros in the back-

ground. (refer to

Clara Rhinoceros

page).

Bernhard Albinus

Timeline: 1700 CE


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Mythology

Back in the

1700s, the Rhi-

noceros was

still seen as a

mythological

creature. In

fact, they hadsuch an aura of

mystery that

people in

Europe ques-

tioned their ex-

istence.

Clara the rhinoceros was adopted by the director of the DutchEast India company in the 1700s. She was one month old at the time.Her mother had been killed by hunters, so Jan Sichterman, her adopter,let her live in his house like an everyday pet. Albinus, when writing hismedical book, decided to feature this animal that just happened to betouring in his country at that time. It is, however, only one of many

paintings of this animal that caused so much excitement. In addition tothe rhinoceros, this painting shows that although the skeleton is notextremely detailed, the artist had an extraordinary understanding ofthe skeletal system.

Clara Rhinoceros

Timeline: 1700 CE

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This piece of art, drawn by Bernhard Siegfried Albinus, depicts amodel of the human muscles. This works official title is Flayed Body,

Tables of the Skeleton and Muscles of the Human Body. Like in thisillustration, Albinus often divided the bodys muscles into groups. Thispainting is the final illustration in a series of pictures showing the work-ings and parts of the body. This collection started with drawings of the

skeletal system and ended with this illustration. The sketch below isone of Albinus most famous and informative paintings. It sheds light on

how the muscular system was seen back in his time.

Muscle Group

Timeline: 1700 CE

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Max Brodel's art mainly involved illustrations of the chest,womb, and brain of the human body. He was initially trained to be aconcert pianist by his parents, but he disliked his career; therefore, hewent to the Leipzig art school. At school, the director of the Instituteof Physiology took him on as an assistant medical artist. This directortrained him in both art and medicine. During his time as an assistant,

Brodel did a study of the brain cortex magnified 150 times. He alsodid a study on the human heart. When he was 24 years old, his draw-

ings were already being acclaimed by doctors in his area.

Later in his life, when the Johns Hopkins Medical School offeredBrodel a job, he came to the United States, bringing with him a largegroup of young doctors. He stayed in America until his death in 1941.His last known work was a long research project on the anatomy ofthe human ear. Brodel is now seen as the modern Leonardo Da Vinci

of medical art.


Pianos -

Max Brodels fa-

ther was a piano-

maker, and he

wanted Max to

become a con-

cert pianist.

Brodel wentalong with this

until he found a

love for medicine

and art. After

Max turned 18,

Maxs father was

so angry with his

career choice

that he decided

to no longer pro-

vide financial

support.

Max Brodel

Timeline: 1900 CE

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Drawing of the EarThe drawing of the Ear is one of Max Brodels unpublished

works. This drawing shows Brodels attention to detail and hisunique drawing style. Unlike many of those before his time, MaxBrodel drew many cross sectional diagrams such as this one.This cross sectional view allows the observer to see not only theparts of the ear, but also the structures surrounding it. This diagram

shows the ear canal leading to the drum membrane. On the otherside of the membrane, the middle ear cavity is shown to be con-nected to the Naso-pharynx via the Eustachian tube. The exte-rior portion of the ear is accurately shown to be surrounded bycartilage. the reason why our ears are so flexible.

Cross Sectional

Diagram-

A diagram that is

drawn as if a plane

had cut through

the subject of the

illustration.

Naso-pharynx-

The upper part of

the pharynx, lo-

cated behind the

mouth.

Timeline: 1900 CE

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Frank Netter

Frank Netter was born on April 25, 1906 and lived until1991. As a child, Frank Netter wanted to become an artist and heperused his interest in college. Although he became a successfulillustrator, his family did not approve of his career and so he de-cided to go to medical school. Because of the Great Depression,Netter was not able to make a living as a doctor, so he became a

medical artists, making illustrations for pharmaceutical compa-nies. His drawings were revolutionary, and strongly resemble theones found in text books today. One of significant characteristicsof his illustrations is that they are in full color. Throughout his ca-reer, he earned 17 awards and recognitions. Some of these awardsinclude the Award of Special Recognition from the Association ofMedical Illustrators and the Honorary Member Award form theAmerican Association of Clinical Anatomists.

Pharmaceutical-

Pertaining to the

production and

distribution of

medication.

Timeline: 1950 CE

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Modern Medical Art

Today, medical art has taken on a whole new look. Whatused to be done tediously by hand is now extremely easy to makewith computers and animation technology. There are several ad-vantages of using computers to produce medical illustrations. Firstoff all, technology makes it extremely easy to make detailed colorrenditions of parts of the human body. Another advantage is that

computer technology makes it extremely easy to duplicate theseillustration. Making a copy of a medical used to require redrawing itfrom scratch; however, the file can now simply be copied. This newadvancement has actually revolutionized the way medicine istaught. Computers not only allow for detailed medical drawingsbut also for animations, providing accurate simulations of bodilyprocesses.

Timeline: 2000 CE

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Glossary

Acupuncture-

A process in which needles are inserted into the skin in order to

influence and heal the patient's qi (energy)

Ayurveda-

A plant and herb based medical treatment developed in AncientIndia.

Cross Sectional Diagram-

A diagram that is drawn as if a plane had cut through the subject

of the illustration.

Naso-pharynx-

The upper part of the pharynx, located behind the mouth.

Pharmaceutical-

Pertaining to the production and distribution of medication.

Renaissance-

A cultural movement between the 14th and 17th century during

which the interest in classical ideas was revived.

Superimposed-

To place one thing on top of another

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About the Authors

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Ram Nambi is a stu-

dent at the Mass Academy of

Math and Science. Although

the school focuses mainly on

engineering, Ram hope to be-come a surgeon in the future.

Currently, his many interests

include running, painting and

biking.

Luke Dery is a high

school student at the Mass

Academy of Math and Sci-

ence. Luke aspires to work

in the medical field in thefuture. Some of his interests

are writing and music.


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