9781422277645

A Talented Physician The republic of Florence under the Medici family produced many gifted citizens. The Florentines thought that a person should have a wide range of skills and interests. A person should be “whole and complete.” People should not be limited in their outlook by their religion or profession. Paolo Toscanelli, for example, was a physician but he spent much of his life studying astronomy and geography. In astronomy, he observed and plotted the course of the comets, including the one we now call Halley’s Comet. His study of geography led him to send a letter to Columbus encouraging him to sail westward to China, “a country worth seeking by the Latins.” This letter was written in 1478, when Leonardo lived in Florence. Even though he was a physician, Toscanelli did not write about anatomy. The official teaching of anatomy to medical students was based on the works of Galen, an ancient Greek physician who had lived in the Roman Empire during the second century ce . In Leonardo’s time, anatomy was still taught by demonstration only; students were not allowed to examine the bodies for themselves. But this barrier was eventually broken down by the artists of Florence. They wanted to portray the human body accurately, particularly the way the muscles were used. Examples of this can be seen in the works of Antonio Pollaiuolo. His studio was next door to that of Verrocchio, where Leonardo worked.

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