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Original fileAnatomical Study of the Heart and Pericardium
menschliches Herz
About This Work
The image features two distinct woodcut diagrams labeled 'Fig I' and 'Fig II' set within a text block. Figure I depicts the heart from an upper angle, showing the pericardium, blood vessels, and adjacent lobes of the lungs labeled with letters A through O. Figure II provides a different, slightly frontal view of the heart and its connective vessels resting against the diaphragm, similarly indexed with lettered labels. The style is that of a 17th-century anatomical treatise, using clear line work and cross-hatching to delineate the muscular structure of the heart and the surrounding thoracic tissue.
This illustration originates from a 17th-century medical or anatomical text, typical of the empirical approaches to natural philosophy that preceded and paralleled William Harvey’s work on blood circulation. It reflects the era's focus on mapping the interior of the human body through systematic dissection and descriptive nomenclature.
Inscriptions(Latin)
De Partibus in ea Contentis. 131 TABVLA V. EST PERICARDII ET CORDIS VT IN PERICARDIO includitur, vna cum pulmone & septi portione. Duas autem figuras continet,quarum in LIB II FIG I TAB V FIG II Prima.A.Est venæ cauæ ascendentis portio. a.Arteriæ magnæ est portio. B.Pericardii initium indicat,quod venæ cauæ & arteriæ, & arteriæ magnæ pertinacissime adhæret. C.Sunt pericardii venulæ. D.E.F.Pericardii anterior facies,& simul basis cordis figuram indicant, videlicet D. E. at vero F. cordis mucronem denorat. Ab F.ad G.Cordis demonstratur connexus,cum septo transuerso. H.I.I.Videlicet septi transuerso pars H.cuius nerui I.I. L.M.N.O.Quatuor pulmonis Lobi. Secunda.A.Sedes est qua pericardium vasis cordis continuatur. B.B.Pericardium in latera reflexum. C.D.E.Cordis anterior pars,vbi basis eiusdem est C.D.muctro vero E. F.G.Videlicet F.vena caua,G vena arteriosa, H.Arteria magna,& arteria venosa,non nisi in dextrum corde reflexo conspici potest. I.K.Auricula cordis dextra est I.sinistra vero K. L.Vena & arteria coronaria cordis. M.N.O.P.Pulmonis lobi quatuor. Q.Septi transuerfi pars. Pro descriptione venæ arteriosæ, & arteriæ venosæ vide pulmones.
Translation
Of the parts contained within it. 131. Table V is of the pericardium and heart as it is enclosed in the pericardium, together with the lung and a portion of the septum. It contains two figures, of which in [...]. [The subsequent text provides a legend for the anatomical labels A through Q].
Connected Texts
William Harvey
Connects to the 17th-century anatomical tradition of studying cardiovascular function through dissection.
Provenance & Source
Object
woodcut
laid paper
Baroque
German
anatomical
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
539 × 820 px
Linked Data