Andreas Vesalius was born in Brussels on December 31, After having spent some disappointing years at the Universities of Louvain and Paris, he graduated as Doctor of Medicine in Padua on December 5, The next day he was appointed as a teacher of both human anatomy and surgery. During the 6 years he held this chair, Vesalius engaged in impressive academic activities and published three masterly anatomic books: Tabulae Anatomicae Sex, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, and Epitome.
The last two works contain anatomic woodcuts of incomparable artistic quality by Titian's pupils by Stefan v. At 15, in he was sent to the University of Louvain and at 19 in he went to the medical school at the University of Paris, where he studied human bones from cemeteries and dissected some human bodies. He went back to Louvain in and then in the following year to Italy and the University of Padua, which had a tradition of encouraging freedom of thought and experiment.
Copernicus had studied there and later Galileo was professor of mathematics. William Harvey, discoverer of the circulation of the blood, was one of its graduates in medicine.
Vesalius made such an impression in Padua that the day after receiving his doctorate in medicine he was appointed to lecture on surgery and anatomy. He dissected human cadavers and created anatomical charts of the human body to help his students. The parts of the body were labelled in a mixture of Greek, Latin, Arabic and Hebrew. He also published a textbook on dissection and a book on an improved method of blood-letting, then widely used in medical treatment.
His appointment to the medical faculty was renewed in with a substantial increase in his salary and a note that his students held him in profound admiration. Vesalius benefited from the intellectual climate in Padua and Venice and made use of the time to concentrate on this publication.
In autumn , the illustrated woodcuts of the book were transported to Basel, Switzerland, where it was printed by Johannes Oporinus — who was gaining fame for the quality of his printing. Vesalius even obtained privileges that protected the Fabrica from unauthorized copying. It is not clear why he published his work in Basel: even though the city was an important center of printing during the Renaissance, Vesalius would have found excellent printers in Venice as well, without having to transport the woodcuts.
In January , Vesalius arrived in Basel to oversee the printing of his magnum opus, but did not neglect his core skill as an anatomist: during his stay, he dissected the body of an executed criminal; the skeleton can still be seen at the Anatomical Museum of the University of Basel. He also prepared Andreae Vesalii suorum de humani corporis fabrica librorum epitome , a condensed summary of his works for students consisting of six chapters and nine illustrations.
The illustrations in the original Fabrica were lavish, but not in color. However, a most beautiful, richly hand colored and expensive copy of the Fabrica was prepared for Charles V. The Emperor was pleased with the book, which featured a florid dedication to him, and appointed Vesalius to his medical staff.
Vesalius believed that while working at the court he would not have enough opportunity to continue his working and writing on anatomy. Although he — and Vesalius scholars to come — came to regret it, he disposed of most of his library and destroyed his notes on Galen. In late , before Vesalius started to work for Charles V, he made another trip to Italy.
About people attended a lecture he gave in Padua, a sure sign of his success. He continued on to Pisa before joining the Emperor who was at war with France at the time. While there, Vesalius helped in treating the wounded and preparing the dead for burial. In , he married the daughter of a rich counselor of Brussels, and a year later a daughter was born.
While performing autopsies, Vesalius continued to practice his dissections.
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