‘Galen, Hippocrates, and Aretaeus of Cappadocia’ Window, The University of Sydney
anatomy, Anderson Stuart Building, Aretaeus of Cappadocia, Asklepios, classical, Gothic Revival, Hippocrates, John Harris, medicine, neo-gothic, physicians, stained glass, stair window, surgeons, The University of Sydney, university, university building, window
This is the lower section of a two-tiered Gothic Revival stair window located in the Anderson Stuart Building at the University of Sydney. The window was donated by John Harris Esq., at a cost of £120 in c.1889 (Calendar of the University of Sydney for the year 1893, Sydney, W. E. Smith, 1893, p.375) It features a triad of classical physicians - Galen, Hippocrates, and Aretaeus of Cappadocia - each of whom had a profound influence on medical thought in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the development of medicine in general. The figures are separately surmounted and framed by late fourteenth to early fifteenth century canopies within individuated lights. Such figuration is very much in keeping with the customary practice of presenting a series of exemplary figures from history for edification and emulation. The Anderson Stuart Building, formerly known as ‘The old medical school’ is used for the teaching of anatomy. It also boasts a statue of Asklepios, the God of medicine and healing, and busts of several eminent physicians and surgeons. The Faculty of Medicine at Sydney University is the oldest in the country.
Urry, David
(photographer)
3 November 2011
No Copyright
Digital Photograph; JPEG
Medieval Anatomy, <em>The Argus</em>, 15 August 1931
Adrenal glands, adrenaline, Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), anatomists, anatomy, animal spirit, blood, brain, British Medical Association, circulation, digestion, dissection, examinations, liver, medicine, medieval anatomy, natural spirit, physicians, Professor Buckmaster, Professor Osborne, Professor Wright, Renaissance medicine, surgeons, The Royal College of Surgeons, vapour, vital spirit, William Harvey (1578-1657).
Despite recognising that Flemish physician Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) was one of the most progressive anatomists of his day, this article from <em>The Argus</em> in 1931 incorrectly labels his views as those of ‘medieval anatomy’. The article describes a light-hearted lecture delivered to members of the British Medical Association in which Professor Wright, one of two prestigious visitors from the Royal College of Surgeons, adopted the role of Vesalius. In this role he proceeded to outline how the internal functions of the human body were understood prior to William Harvey’s discoveries concerning the circulatory system in the seventeenth century. However this model, which consists of three spirits (animal spirit, natural spirit and vital spirit) that are transported around the body by the blood and altered by heat and various secretions, is specific to the sixteenth century rather than the medieval period. This is because bodily dissection was heavily forbidden by the Catholic Church in the medieval period, and so anatomical discussions were limited. The use of ‘medieval’ here refers rather to an early twentieth-century attitude that the theory was primitive and reactionary within a linear narrative of medical advancement. This is evident in the explanation offered by Professor Wright that “it emphasised to a modern audience the remarkable advances which had been made in 350 years”, and “should teach the harm that could be done by adhering slavishly to conceptions which might be false”.
Anon
TROVE: National Library of Australia, <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4384619" target="_self">http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4384619</a>
<em>The Argus</em>
15 August 1931, p.21
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Newspaper Article