Historia de la composicion del cuerpo humano
description: This manuscript was an anatomical manual drawn by Juan Valverde de Amusco, a Spaniard born in 1525. Very few of the images were Valverde’s originals, only 4 of 42, but all were corrected to create a more accurate image of the dissected human body (WDL). All the images are striking in their particular artistry, the most famous of which being a model showing human muscle holding his own skin in his hand. What makes this book particularly interesting is the context in which it is created, that of Spanish humoral medicine. In early renaissance Spain the idea of humoral medicine was prominent. People were believed to have certain humors in their body which defined their personality and health. Humors could change due to a variety of circumstances such as food, weather, and sleep, and an overbalance of humors was the cause of most illness and other physical hardship (Earle 26-27). What makes this book astounding then is its accuracy in drawings of the brain, eye, and larynx, as it sits situated in a world of superstitious medicine. The world of Renaissance medicine exists in a peculiar blend of science and superstition. On the one hand, doctors and learned people from all levels of society truly believed that to fix a fever, bleeding or a diet of sugar or other foods was necessary. On the other hand, however, they performed dissections and investigations that revealed a complex, and detailed understanding of the human physiology. This book is an excellent example of this era of medicine, as it shows the more detailed and analytical side of Renaissance medicine, that may be more easily missed if only an investigation of humoral medicine is taken.
creator: Juan Valverde de Amusco
source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/valverde_home.html
date: 1556
contributor: Jack Williams
rights: Publlic Domain