Vena Saphena

A blog focused on Medieval medicine, science, and mathematics, and the people who pioneered these subjects; centered mainly on Europe from c. 500 C.E. to c. 1500 C.E., though not strictly confined to that.

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Artatomical: 1800s Persian Anatomical Study

Here’s an elegant piece of anatomical art, straight from a 19th-century Persian anatomical study.

I love the skeletons, but I feel like the internal organs and circulatory systems are the real stars here. The artist gives them the lush feel of fresh flowers or fruit.

SEE THE FULL IMAGE: http://is.gd/yEH2wU

[poete]

Islamic Calendar

India, Deccan, 1891

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A selection of Whales illustrations from the 16th to the 19th century.

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(via History of Science!)

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Creator: Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci 1452-Amboise 1519) (artist)

Creation Date: 1489

Materials: Pen and ink over black chalk

[biomedicalephemera]

"Philip Verheyen dissecting his amputated limb"

Philip Verheyen may well have been a forgotten student of the clergy, a layperson of the Renaissance, whose presence, while important, was not so documented, if not for a “fortuitous” infection of his foot, while studying in the seminary.

The surgeon who met with Verheyen and ultimately amputated his lower leg (rendering him unfit for the clergy) was a student of Frederik Ruysch, the famed Dutch anatomist and botanist, and spoke long to Verheyen about the fascinating aspects of the anatomy of the leg - as well as why it must be amputated.

After his amputation, Philip was forced to pursue another profession, and given how fascinating he found the dissection of his amputated limb, found the life of a surgeon to be agreeable with his new-found interests.

While he was a good and celebrated surgeon of Belgium, his lost limb caused him much turmoil throughout his life. Though well-documented and recognized today, in Verheyen’s time, "phantom limb pain" was not a condition that was considered to be “real”. Mr. Verheyen persevered, however, and despite the agony evident in his diaries, was a successful surgeon who served many in his day.

Anonymous artist, c. 1715-1730. Via Wikimedia Commons.

[venasaphena]

14th century clock in the cathedral of Beauvais in France, purported to be one of the oldest surviving working clocks in the world. (x)

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Egnazio Danti. Great BrItain and Ireland, 1565.

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Anatomical illustration showing the veins.

England; late 13th century. 

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Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, ms. 0457, f. 260v. Avicenna, Canon medicinae. Paris, 3rd quarter of the 13th century. “Doctor presiding at a caesarean” (and not doing the work himself).

[venasaphena]

Drawing of the hippocampus by Joseph Jules Dejerine, 1895. (x)

[venasaphena]

Cheomseongdae in Gyeongju, South Korea, built in the 7th century under Queen Seondeok of the Korean kingdom of Silla according to Samguk Yusa, is the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in eastern Asia and one of the oldest surviving scientific installations on Earth to date.

It is 9.4 meters (30 feet and 1 inch) tall and 5.35 meters (17 feet and 6 inches) wide at the base and filled with earth to the window where a ladder can be hung. The observatory sits on a four-sided base of 12 stone slabs and the tower is composed of 362 pieces of cut granite, 27 rings high with 12 rings below the window and 12 rings above, and topped by a square stone structure. The inside is marked by hanging rocks in two areas at the 19th, 20th, 25th, and 26th levels forming the Chinese character '井' (jǐng) meaning 'well' or 'mine shaft'. (x)

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From Bartholomaeus Anglicus. De proprietatibus rerum. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 9140 (Ahun 1480)

Digestive system

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The Fra Mauro map depicting Asia, Africa, and Europe with south facing the top, circa 1450. The map was made by Italian monk Fra Mauro and his assistant Andrea Bianco and commissioned by Afonso V of Portugal. The final map was completed in 1459 and sent to Portugal, though has not survived to present-day. (x)

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British Library, Sloane 6, detail of f. 177v (‘a woman physician treating a female patient’). John Arderne, Medical Treatise. England, 2nd quarter of the 15th century.

[venasaphena]

Earliest known neuroscience illustration, depicting the eyes and optic nerves from Ibn al-Haytham's Kitab al-Manazir (Book of Optics), circa 1027. (x)

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Envisioning what the earth looks like from orbit, centuries before space travel: the Dominican friar and scientific instrument maker Ignazio Danti’s 1580 isometric map of Italy at the Vatican.