Brain, mind, and body: interactions with art in renaissance Italy

J Hist Neurosci. 2008;17(3):295-313. doi: 10.1080/09647040701575900.

Abstract

The Renaissance saw the first systematic anatomical and physiological studies of the brain and human body because scientists, for the first time in centuries, were allowed to dissect human bodies for study. Renaissance artists were frequently found at dissections and their attention to detail can be observed in their products. Scientists themselves were increasingly artistic, and they created astonishing anatomical models and illustrations that can still be studied. The cross-fertilization of art and science in the Renaissance resulted in more scientific analyses of neuroanatomy as well as more creative ways in which such analyses could be depicted. Both art and science benefited from the reciprocal ways in which the two influenced each other even as they provided new ways of explaining the mysteries of the human body and mind.

Publication types

  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Anatomy, Artistic / history*
  • Brain / anatomy & histology
  • Brain / physiology
  • Cognition* / physiology
  • Education, Medical / history
  • Greek World / history
  • History, 15th Century
  • History, 16th Century
  • History, 17th Century
  • History, Ancient
  • Human Body
  • Humans
  • Italy
  • Medical Illustration / history*
  • Neuroanatomy / education
  • Neuroanatomy / history*
  • Neurophysiology / education
  • Neurophysiology / history*
  • Printing / history
  • Vision, Ocular* / physiology
  • Visual Perception* / physiology