Rev. Med. Chir. Soc. Med. Nat., Iaşi – 2016 – vol. 120, no. 1

HISTORY OF MEDICINE

A RENAISSANCE PROMOTER OF MODERN SURGERY

I. Velenciuc1 , Raluca Minea2* , Letiţia Duceac3 , T. Vlad2 1. CF (/Railway) General Hospital Paşcani 2. University of Arts “G. Enescu” Iaşi Faculty of Visual Arts and Design Department of Mural Arts, Conservation – Restoration and Art History 3. University “Apollonia” Iaşi Faculty of Dental Medicine Department of Medicine *Corresponding author: [email protected]

A RENAISSANCE PROMOTER OF MODERN SURGERY (Abstract): The present paper aims, exploring the history of Renaissance medicine, to evoke the figure and work of the priest, surgeon and anatomist, Guido Guidi (Vidus Vidius) (1509-1569). The XVIth century is considered a period marked by artistic and scientific effervescence in the western part of Europe and Guido Guidi was a first order personality, grandson of and friend of . He was appointed by the King Francis I the first professor of anatomy and surgery at the newly founded Collège de France. On demand of the King, he wrote Chirurgia è Graeco in Latinum conversa Vido Vidio Florentino interprete, cum nonnullis eiusdem Vidii comentariis (1544), a beautifully illustrated original surgery book that became for the following two centuries the main source in teaching surgery. Our study realized a detailed assessment of the book and especially of its illustrations belonging to Francesco Salviati. Exploring the life of Guido Guidi, we were also able to point out other significant contributions in the field of anatomy and clinical medicine as De anatome the first book where are presented disarticulated, the bones of the skull base and also the disco- very of the chickenpox. Some surgical personalities attributed to him both the elaboration of the term appendix vermiformis and the first description of an aneurysm, he treated with the help of Fallopio. Although forgotten today, Guido Guidi was a leading figure of the Renais- sance medicine both in France and Italy. Keywords: GUIDI, SURGERY BOOKS, RE- NAISSANCE MEDICINE, SALVIATI, COLLEGE DE FRANCE.

At the beginning of the XVIth century tifically studied the human body through was the theater of major social and dissection in order to achieve a realistic political convulsions occurring against the representation in works of art. This was the background of the economic prosperity and moment when the canons of anatomical artistic effervescence at the peak of the Re- drawing were established and the artistic naissance. The richness and patronage of the anatomy began to be taught by cadaver dis- Medici family decisively contributed to the section at the Arcispedale Santa Maria development of an unequaled Florentine Nuova. Here Leonardo da Vinci (1452- artistic universe and to the apparition of 1519) and Marcantonio della Torre (1481- brilliant masters and apprentices who scien- 1511) started to write a book with drawings

201 I. Velenciuc et al. after dissection preparations but the plague Nicetus from the X-th century, which con- of Florence (1511) interrupted this collabo- tained, collected by Apollonius of Kitium, ration, due to the death of della Torre. the Hippocratic works: De ulceribus, De In 1540 was established, under the pat- fistulis, De vulneribus capitis, De fracturis, ronage of Grand Duke Cosimo I de Medici, De articulis and De officina medicinae, the the “Accademia degli Umidi”, which later last three commented by , in Galen’s became ”Accademia Fiorentina” (in 1541) treatise De fasciis and Oribasus, The (1). Here, anatomy was thought initialy by laqueis and De machinamentes. Cosimo Roselli (1439-1507) and later by Between 1535 and 1538, Guido Guidi his pupils, Piero di Cosimo (1462-1521), went to where he worked with fa- Andrea del Sarto (1486-1531), Domenico mous surgeons of the time, Antonio Ghirlandaio (1449-1494). This effervescent Ponzanello and Giacomo Rastelli, the latter atmosphere marked by the enthusiastic being the personal surgeon of Popes Clem- desire for knowledge, developed the bril- ent VII and Paul III. Under the guidance of liant triumvirate Leonardo da Vinci, Mi- Roman masters he became familiar with the chelangelo (1475-1564) and Benvenuto use of contention and continuous extension Cellini (1500-1571). devices in the treatment of strains and frac- tures. It seems that in Rome Guido Guidi LIFE AND ACTIVITY met for the first time Benvenuto Cellini and In this artistic Renaissance Florence warm friendship developed between the was born, on February 10, 1509 (2, 3, 4). two Great Men. Guido Guidi, the son of the well-known After returning to Florence, Cardinal Florentine physician Giuliano Guidi and Ridolfi encouraged Guido Guidi to trans- Costanza Bigordi, daughter from a second late De ulceribus and De fistulis, adding marriage of the great painter Domenico not only his own comments but also that of Ghirlandaio. Aristotle (causam nos docuit Aristoteles, The data of Guido Guidi's childhood quum tradit calorem in unu coactum au- and how he obtained his university degrees geri..) and of Eudemus (370-300 BC), Cor- are missing (5), but it is believed that the nelius Celsus (25 BC-50 AD), Paulus in young man, with artistic blood in his veins Aegineta (625-690), and Soranus of Ephe- and raised by his father in the medical tra- sus (ca. AD 98-138) (Soranus, cuius scrip- dition required by the Hippocratic oath, ta de vulneribus capitis adhuc extat...) as is received a humanist education of the high- specified in Chirurgia pp. 67-72. est quality. In the first phase of his life, King informed by until 1535, he studied in Florence, becom- Primaticcio (1504 - 1570), by the diplomat ing a connoisseur of Greek and Latin. Giv- Alamanni and by Cardinal Ridolfi himself en his high education and early erudition he about the audacious attempt of the young was noticed by the Cardinal Ridolfi, who erudite, invited him to Paris in 1542. From took him under his protection. In the Car- that moment the life of Guido Guidi had dinal’s entourage, the young Guidi had sensationally changed. He presented to the access to the famous Laurentian library that King the original codex and his translation housed manuscripts of great value in all of it, making an incredible impression. He areas of science and art. Among them there was appointed the first professor of medi- was a codex of the Byzantine physician cine and surgery at the newly established

202 A renaissance promoter of modern surgery

Collège de France, the personal physician becoming a priest. This idea is supported of the King, and was requested to complete by at least two arguments: Tuscan contem- the translations in order to publish a book poraries, including Cellini, continued to of surgery, according him important eccle- call him Messer Guido Guidi; in a pirate siastical benefits. edition of Chirurgia è Graeco in Latinum At Paris, where Guidi taught and prac- conversa from 1553, the author was named ticed medicine between 1542-1547, for Guy i.e. Guido the Widower (6). unknown reasons he changed his name, In his private life, fate favored him becoming Vidus Vidius as he will be cited again. The young Florentine became very in the classical anatomical literature, in- good friend with Benvenuto Cellini who cluding Nomina Anatomica. We believe hosted him in his castle, Petit Nesle and, in that the truth is more subtle; tempted by the his autobiography, made him an extremely advantages of belonging to the clerical flattering characterization. Here he met elite, Guido Guidi, skillful user of Latin, Pierre Galtier, the future editor of Chirur- Greek and Arabic, had chosen for himself gia è Graeco in Latinum conversa, who this cognomen derived from ”widower” or worked in typography in the Paris castle of ”alone”, thus declaring his intention of Benvenuto Cellini.

A B Fig. 1. A. Main opening page of Chirurgia è Graeco in Latinum conversa, decorat- ed with the royal crown with the lilies of France. B. The papal prohibition against copying, reproducing or republishing the book (copyright) (7).

Guido Guidi became the first professor style (also reflected in his writings) brought of medicine at the Collège de France, his new students and a large audience and at clear and attractive public lectures on med- their request he began to carry out public icine and surgery, as well as his elegant demonstrations of anatomy. He worked

203 I. Velenciuc et al. intensively untill 1543 completing (fig.1) the guidance of Benvenuto Cellini himself, the book entitled Chirurgia e Graeco in as demonstrated by the analysis of the capi- Latinum conversa, Vido Vidio Florentino, tal letters at the beginning of the chapters, cum nonnulus eiusdem Vidii comentariis in which can be seen the floral ornaments (7). used by Cellini for the armor of Cosimo I It seems that the book was printed under de' Medici (8) (fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Capital letter from Chirurgia è Graeco in Latinum conversa, decorated with floral motifs that are found in Benvenuto Cellini, on the bronze bust of Cosimo de' Medici, Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence (7, 20).

Guidi presented the book to the King author was not satisfied with that. He pre- Francis I, requiring a protection against sented the manuscript to Pope Paul III and plagiarism and republication by others. The received, after 10 months of thorough re- King wrote him an eulogistic foreword, view of the book in the papal chancery, a calling him ”notre cher & bien ayme brief preface that proclaimed the originality maistre Vidus Vidius de Florence, docteur and usefulness of the book and prohibited en medecine, notre medecin ordinaire & the partial or total reproduction under the lecteur en Paris” and then he added ” nous penalty of excommunication (7, p. 22 ij). a faict dire & remostrer, quil estoit apres Chirurgia è Graeco in Latinum conversa avoir laisser a imprimer a ses grandz fiz, that became a reference book for the study mises & depenz, & au gand proffit & pro- of surgery in the XVI to XVIII centuries, motion des estudians en medecine & prin- begins as a result of author’s erudition, with cipalement en la chirurgie ung liure inti- a bilingual alphabetical index in Greek and tule....pour le teps & terme de six ans pro- Latin, where, across 14 pages, the corre- chainement venant a commencer du jour & spondence of the surgery terminology is date de ces presentes, autres imprimeurs ne specified in both languages. Moreover, Guidi puissent imprimer ne vendre ledict liure presents an index of authors and works, out- ensemble, ou par ses parties, que ceulx a lining that the first six chapters, De ulceribus, qui ledict permectra” establishing penalties De fistulis, De vulneris capitis, De fracturis, and significant punishments for infringe- De articulis, De officina doctors, belong to ment of that prohibition. The royal docu- Hippocrates and are commented by Vidius ment dated January 2, 1543 (7, p. 22 iij) is (the first three chapters) and the following the first known written copyright. But the three chapters to Galen.

204 A renaissance promoter of modern surgery

A

B

C Fig. 3. A. The instruments imaged for different interventions on the bones (commentary illustrating De fracturis); B. Types of bandages for limbs and trunk; C. Models of surgical knots (7).

Chapter VII contains Galen´s De tribution, the work of Galen De fasciis fasciis, and Oribasius´ De laqueis and De was richly illustrated with original designs machinamentes, commented and illustrated of head bandages such as a complete cape- by Vidus in collaboration with the Floren- line, single or combined with a goni- tine painter Francesco Salviati (9) (fig. 4). on/chin double support sling, other types If, in the study of the six Hippocratic of bandages for craniocervical injuries, works, Vidus had only a theoretical con- upper limb and thorax bandages, seen in

205 I. Velenciuc et al. the Tabula LXXII, showing a shoulder (fig. 3). immobilization technique used until today, Of the periarticular bandages, the inter- such as the Desault bandage. Of the thora- crossed pattern slings of the thumb, groin coabdominal bandages, we mention the and talocrural bandages conclude the series contention system used in the diastasis of 138 drawings of the De fasciis chapter. recti, where the bandages are arranged From the work of Oribasius (AD 320- alternately, in the direction of the fibers of 403), Vidus selected, commented and sup- the oblique external and internal muscles plemented the chapters on knots and ortho- of the abdomen and united in the midline pedic devices to reduce dislocations and as a raphe, which doubles the white line fractures.

B A Fig. 4. Devices (machinamentes) for continuous extension (A) and luxation reduction (B) reproduced from original engravings of Francesco Salviati, pre- served in Paris, at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Inventario Masson, 210 (A) and Bibliothèque Nationale de France (B) Départements des Manuscrits (9).

In the work of Oribasius, the contribu- tion of the device for any physician. The tion of Vidus consisted in the diversifica- images of this last chapter of Guidi`s Chi- tion and improvement of the knot systems rurgia were also made by Francesco Savi- and especially of the outstanding graphical ati by engravings on copper plates (fig. 4). presentation that facilitated learning. Final- After the death of King Francis I ly, the systems for the reduction of disloca- (1547), Guido Guidi returned to Italy and tions and fractures are initially presented settled in , where he practiced surgery segmentally, and then gradually assembled, and held public lectures of surgical anato- indicating where to put the sprockets and my through demonstrative dissections of pulleys thus making possible the replica- human cadavers (10, 11, 12).

206 A renaissance promoter of modern surgery

A B

Fig. 5. A. The opening page of the Treaty De Anatome; B. Tabula V of Chapter II (Liber Secundus), which presents for the first time, the disarticulated bones of the skull base (7).

This allowed him to accumulate a nota- described the ostia of the hepatic veins ble experience in surgery and anatomy that openings in the inferior vena cava. In the enabled him to add new discoveries to the accompanying drawing it can be observed a scientific heritage of the time. In the surgical rare anatomical variation of five such ostia, field he was the first to describe the arterial demonstrating that the study was done by aneurysms, an original technique of trache- dissection on human corpses. otomy, a procedure of lengthening the fore- In the medical field, he was the discov- skin of the penis incurvatus or other sequels erer of chickenpox. By studying diabetes, of circumcision, cutaneous plasty of trophic he concluded that it was a consequence of a limb ulcers, nose plasty, plaster or wax den- single glandular insufficiency (without tal implants to improve phonation and he specifying the gland). He successfully ap- established the axillary lines as landmarks plied the physiotherapy, using the thera- for the thoraco-brachial approach (13, 14). peutic qualities of the baths of Pisa (15). He named in Italian language vermi- In the anatomy field, he wrote a re- forme, the ileocecal appendix, discovered markable treatise – De anatome (fig. 5) – in by Berengario da Carpi (1460-1530) and which he established the conditions of

207 I. Velenciuc et al. building a Theatrum Anatomicum (5), pre- 19). He was the first professor of anatomy sented, for the first time, the disarticulated and surgery at the Collège de France, and bones of the skull base, described the or- his Chirurgia, remained the reference book bital process of the palatine bone and the for teaching surgery in the following two pterygoid canal that bears his name – the centuries. It is considered the first original vidian canal (16). surgery book, beautifully illustrated by a famous contemporary Florentine painter. In CONCLUSIONS the field of anatomy Guido Guidi was a Although forgotten today, Guido Guidi prominent personality with important con- was a leading figure of the Renaissance tributions that lasted until today as epo- medicine, both Italian and French (17, 18, nyms in Nomina Anatomica.

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