Andreas Vesalius
By Dana Morrison
Biography
- Andreas Vesalius is an author and a drawer born on December 31st 1514. Born in Brussels, Belgium.
- Most of his childhood was in Brussels, and later on at three different universities studying anatomy and physiology.
- He was an anatomist and a physician and was the first to dissect the human body.
- Andreas always had a curiosity and love for anatomy, so when he grew up he made his interests into a profession and studied for years about anatomy.
- He made books, spoke lectures, and drawings. Andreas is considered a renaissance man for his ability to be so educated and talented in these many subjects
- His patron was Holy Roman Emperor Charles The Fifth
Some of Andreas' Works
De Humani Corporis Fabrica (1543)
Published in 1543, this was Vesalius' greatest set of works, these sets of books were very popular and were published along with his drawings. This is one of the drawings in De Humani.
Tabulae anatomicae sex (1538)
From another book of his lectures, this illustration shows a complete skeleton, something new to the knowledge of anatomists around the world.
Epotiome (1543)
This illustration is one of the most famous Vesalian poses, at once a relatively accurate depiction of the whole skeleton in contemplative position.
De Humani Corporis Fabrica
- Published in 1543, De Humani Corporis Fabrica was a set of books by Andreas that went into depth about human anatomy. These were the first accurate books on the human body as no one had dissected a body before Andreas.
These books were redone and re written as anatomists made more scientific discoveries and there are modern day books off of the artwork in de humani. The original was destroyed in bombings in WWII.
This was the first book that went into depth about anatomy and was actually correct. Andreas actually dissected the human body to get this information, he was then able to recreate what he saw in drawings. and drawings he had were anatomically correct.
- This piece was significant because it is the piece that made Andreas the father of anatomy, and he discovered something that will forever be an important part of life.It is something that helps many people so that they are able to understand anatomy and how to stay healthy and possibly help in cures. Andreas goes into detail about the body and in his drawings also. His attention to detail was a big breakthrough in the renaissance and was a lead in to many other discoveries later on.
- The most significant "ism" is naturalism, because these writings were all about a human’s natural form, their body. It showed what the human body was and is made of, all in a natural state.
- I find this interesting because it was a scientific breakthrough and Andreas was the first to discover what the anatomy of the human body actually was.