Fasciculus Medicinae: Medical Texts of the Fifteenth Century

Johnanes de Ketham, Zodiac Man and Wound Man, and Pregnant Woman, Fasciculus Medicanae.  Venice: [1491].  DK Bailey Collection, Rare and Distinctive Collections, CU Boulder Libraries.  

The Zodiac Man is an artistic piece that uses the media style of woodcut which by definition means, “a print of a type made from a design cut in a block of wood, formerly widely used for illustrations in books” (Oxford English Dictionary). This was a very common way for  images to be displayed back when this image was created in 1490. It was made by a German man named Johannes de Ketham who worked as a physician in Vienna where he spent the majority of his life. The Zodiac Man was printed into The Fasciculus Medicinae which was one of the first printed illustrated medical books (McCall). Ketham was a prestigious medical practitioner and it is thought that he was added to the book to give it more authority, though not much is known about him as he was a very private person. He was seen to be at the forefront of learning throughout the piece.

During the ancient and medieval periods, it was thought that the Zodiac signs had major influence over the body and its overall wellbeing (National Library of  Medicine). While this piece looks confusing from the outside, once looked at a little closer, it opens up a new perspective and shows a good depiction of what medicine was believed to be during this time period. The purpose of Ketham creating this piece was to explain the dynamics of blood work based on the twelve signs of the zodiac (McCall). It depicts in Latin when are good times to draw blood from certain parts of the body while pointing out different points on various veins and arteries. This was a very key part of medicine until the late seventeenth century.

In the fifteenth century, ancient discoveries by Hippocrates and Galen played a role in forming Ketham’s beliefs by stating that the head and mind as well as the environment surrounding them have a major role in how a person is feeling.  These artworks circulated in many different manuscripts for decades before the The Fasciculus Medicinae was printed (McCall). It is not a surprise that they were often kept together as they show how to treat many different types of patients.  

 - Kendall, Fall '22

Wound Man is a woodcut created by Johannes de Ketham in Venice, Italy during the 1490’s. Johannes de Ketham was a medical professor and physician in Italy who originated from Germany (Met Museum, n.d.).  The Wound Man was a woodcut that was alongside other woodcuts such as Zodiac Man and Pregnant Woman published in Fasciculus Medicinae, one of the earliest illustrated medical books reprinted dozens of times in different editions (McCall, n.d.) Woodcuts were made by “knives and other tools to carve a design into the surface of a wooden block” and are also the oldest form of printmaking (Met Museum, n.d.). 

As you look at the Wound Man, you will see a man that has been “sliced, stabbed, punctured, bleeding, harassed on all sides by various weaponry” (Hartnell, 2016). These injuries were caused by “various threats to the body,” (Garner and Naughton, 2018).  The goal was “the knowledge that could be channeled and dispensed in the practice of late medieval medicine” (Hartnell, 2016).  For example, the wounds range from “blows to the head down to the prick of a thorn on the feet” (Garner and Naughton, 2018). The wounds were caused by a variety of different weapons such as knives, daggers, and arrows (Leiden University, 2022).  The iconography of the piece illustrates stab wounds in the body with the steps physicians need to take in order to help heal these wounds. 

Wound Man, Zodiac Man, and Pregnant Woman were created in the same style and can be found together in the Fasciculus Medicinae.  It was aimed at an audience of physicians and other medical professionals, during a time in which, in Italy and Europe as a whole, “the quality of medical practitioners was poor” (Murrell, 2022).  It was first published in 1491 but the demand for it made it “a favorite text for printers” and, by 1522, it had been issued more than twenty times (Garner and Naughton, 2018). 

- Anonymous, Fall '22

"Pregnant Woman"

Pregnant Woman is one of many compilations in the late medieval medical text The Fasciculus Medicinae. This Latin text serves as one of the first printed illustrated texts with anatomical depictions. The schematic illustrations in The Fasciculus Medicinae were developed through woodcut conventions. A common printing element, woodcuts were depictions carved by knife into the surface of a wooden block (Met Museum, n.d.). Through the medium of woodcuts, The Fasciculus Medicinae portrays several cutting-edge anatomical and physiological views of the late fifteenth century regarding surgery and dissection, uroscopy, phlebotomy, and obstetrics and gynecology, and more (Garner & Naughton, 2018). The Fasciculus Medicinae was first compiled in 1491 by Johannes de Ketham (Historical Anatomies, n.d.). Born in Germany, Ketham resided in Venice, Italy for his career and became known as both a Viennese physician and professor Johann von Kircheim (Historical Anatomies, n.d.). Despite a lack of information about Ketham, it is presumed that he created and modified these woodcuts for his teachings.

As the name suggests, Ketham’s Pregnant Woman woodcut depicts a pregnant woman, capturing late medieval ideas about women’s bodies, reproduction and pregnancy (Garner & Robin, 2018). Her body is cut open and reveals female reproductive organs. With corresponding captions, Latin labels describe various diseases that are specific to certain organs. For example, the mind is listed as the part of a woman’s body most vulnerable to contracting diseases (Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index, 2022). Additionally, this diagram emphasizes the pregnant womb, located under missing and misshapen (and perhaps misunderstood) depictions of other organs. Her abdomen and uterine area are drawn much wider in proportion to the rest of her body. This rendering allows ample room for a fetus and emphasizes the sexual difference in peritoneal body cavities thought to exist at that time. Even the woman’s pose warrants consideration. She squats as if in labor, and she lifts her left hands in propitiation of prayer (Wells, 1960). Some speculate these nuances hint at underlying ancient influences on medieval feminine identity: Women were considered “goddesses of fecundity,” and The Fasciculus Medicinae provided the anatomical basis for that ability.

Ancient and medieval traditions defined fifteenth century medical knowledge. While Hippocrates and Galen remained significant figures in the science of disease, Renaissance innovations and influences gained footing during this time (Met Museum, n.d.). These novel influences contributed to Kethams’ holistic beliefs that mindset and environment determine a person’s state of health. Other woodcuts like Zodiac Man and Wound Man underscore Ketham’s holistic views. Collectively, these woodcuts in The Fasciculus Medicinae served as teaching and learning tools for anatomy and dissection in the fifteenth century (Ghosh, 2015).

- Julia Rois Mulhall, Spring, '23