Scene in the chamber of a plague patient

Plague

Physicians

Book Illustrations

Artist unknown.

A patient suffering from the plague lies in bed. A physician takes the patient's pulse and smells a pomander. On each side of the physican there is a man carrying a torch. A cat sits next to the physican's feet. Three women are at the patient's bedside and one of the women holds a large basin.--Cf. DiMaio, Salvatore. "Il Fasciculo Di Medicina Of 1493." Neurosurgery v. 58, no. 1 (2006): p. 190-191.

Title taken from commentary by Singer in facsimile edition: Fasciculus medicinae of Johannes de Ketham, Alemanus (Birmingham, Ala. : The Classics of Medicine Library, 1988).

Original image in: Ketham, Joannes de, active 15th century. Fasciculus medicinae. Italian (Milano : Seinzenzeler, 1516), leaf c7v. ZAe 19b (Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia)

Fasciculus Medicinae was a collection medical treatises first printed in 1491, although it previously circulated in manuscript. The work is noted for its illustrations, which were among the first anatomical illustrations to be printed. The text was issued thereafter in several new editions that included new illustrations, with this extremely rare 1516 edition from Milan based on a 1509 forgery of the 1493 Venetian edition.

Digitized by the Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

1516

ita

StillImage

ZAe_19b.c7va

ZAe_19b.c7vb

1 print : woodcut

19 x 17 cm