Viscera and Bloodletting Man

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Viscera and Bloodletting Man

1517

Attributed to Johannes Wechtlin (German, active c. 1506–1526) Written by Hans von Gersdorff (German, 1455–1529) Published by Johannes Schott, Strassburg

Hans von Gersdorff's Feldtbuch der Wundartzney, a portable manual for military field surgeons, was first published in Strasbourg in 1517, with subsequent editions in 1528, 1535, and 1540. Whereas the skeleton sheet bears a text stating that its figure was copied from a sculptural relief on a bishop's tomb, the anatomy of Viscera and Bloodletting Man was drawn from observations of a dissection performed in Strasbourg on the body of a hanged criminal. The 1540 edition correctly depicts a three-lobed liver instead of the five-lobed one described by the second-century physician Claudius Galen, as well as showing the accurate placement of the lungs in the thoracic cavity.

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Object Details

Titles:

Viscera and Bloodletting Man
Illustration from the book Feldtbuch der Wundartzney

Date:

1517

Artists:

Attributed to Johannes Wechtlin (German, active c. 1506–1526) Written by Hans von Gersdorff (German, 1455–1529) Published by Johannes Schott, Strassburg

Medium:

Hand-colored woodcut

Dimensions:

Sheet: 24 7/8 x 7 7/8 inches (63.2 x 20 cm)

Classification:

Prints

Credit Line:

Purchased with the SmithKline Beckman Corporation Fund, 1949

Accession Number:

1949-97-11b

Geography:

Made in Germany, Europe

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Currently not on view