Medicine and Biology

Ancient Theories, Modern Bodies

Interest in science at the papal court embraced not only mathematics and astronomy but also the more obviously practical fields of medicine and natural history. In these areas too the Vatican Library developed rich holdings, which extend from the classic general works of Plato and the challenging poem of Lucretius to standard medieval textbooks. The city became a lively center of research and publication. In the fifteenth century scholars in the curia translated the complex and important biological works of Aristotle, and presented splendid manuscripts of their finished products to their patrons. They thus dramatised the fact that the greatest Greek philosopher had also been a great empirical scientist, who waded out into the ocean to catch interesting fish and dissected starfish in order to try to understand how their organs functioned. In the sixteenth century, Roman scholars edited and translated the oldest corpus of Greek medical texts, the works ascribed to Hippocrates. These were full of fascinating case studies and suggestive remarks about scientific method. Roman doctors adopted the new anatomical methods of the day, based on systematic dissection of the muscles and bones. They held dramatic public demonstrations of their skill, and sometimes found that they could criticize the work of the most influential anatomist of the time, Andreas Vesalius. You can see a small passage to the next room of the exhibit. No guards around, so you can 'touch' everything (if you do so, you will get a free poster of the picture you touched). Do you want to continue to the next room or turn around and go back to the Main Hall?