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    Vol 20, Issue 2

    The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius

    This past academic year, the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, along with University of Cincinnati Libraries and the UC College of Medicine, celebrated the seminal work of Andreas Vesalius with a series of online and in-person lectures and exhibits. The series, titled “The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius,” ran from October 2021 through March 2022 and provided an in-depth look and study of this monumental book of human anatomy first published in 1543. Andreas Vesalius was a Renaissance anatomist and physician who revolutionized the study and practice of medicine through his careful description of the anatomy of the human body. Basing his observations on…

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    Volume 20,  Volume 20, Issue 1

    The Illustrated Human: The Impact of Andreas Vesalius

    Andreas Vesalius was a Renaissance anatomist and physician who revolutionized the study and practice of medicine through his careful description of the anatomy of the human body. Basing his observations on dissections he made himself, he authored the first comprehensive textbook of anatomy, “De humani corporis fabrica libri septem” (“On the Fabric of the Human Body in Seven Books”). Published in 1543, “Fabrica” was the most extensive and accurate description of the human body of its time. Most likely drawn by Vesalius colleague Jan Stephan a Calcar and Italian artist Titian, the “Fabrica” is widely known for its illustrations, where skeletons and bodies with muscular structures exposed pose in scenic, pastoral…