Galenic Anatomy in the Long Renaissance

Abstract

Abstract The arrival of the Greek Galen in Quattrocento Italy brought Galenic anatomical texts to scholarly notice, although their major impact followed the Latin translations of 1529 and 1531. Early work concentrated on establishing a coherent vocabulary, soon followed by a surge of interest in dissection. Several writers noted discrepancies between Galen and what could be seen, but it was Vesalius in 1543 who emphasized that these errors were systematic, the result of reliance on animal dissections. His views were often opposed, but by 1580 his corrections were generally accepted as within the Galenic tradition, and Harvey saw his discovery of the circulation of the blood as supporting Galenic therapeutics. In Spain and elsewhere there was also a return to Galenic anatomical texts as providing a more relevant, functional anatomy for physicians.