Holbeins The Ambassadors Holbeins The Ambassadors Smarthistory org
"Holbein's The Ambassadors. " • • • "Holbein's The Ambassadors. " Smarthistory. org. January 14 th, 2010. <http: //smarthistory. org/holbein. html>. Video on two historians: Dr. Beth Harris, and Dr. Steven Zucker. These two people give their opinions on all of the symbolism on "The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein. This website was a very valuable website because you are able to hear all of these ideas of possible symbolism in the video from different educated people's opinions. They see the representation of the papacy and the Politics in the painting. Objects on the top layer are objects of navigation that can speak to what these two mean have to do in their jobs as ambassadors The Age of exploration and mapping the world. The age where the Europeans are noticing that Europe is not the center of the universe and that the earth is not at the center of the universe The time of the renaissance is signifying this enlightenment. The bishop has been speculated to be sent up to France to speak to the ambassador on the left. The lute in that context gives the hint about the problems in Europe at this moment. The broken string on the lute a symbol of the discord in Europe at this moment. And the disharmony in the church. The celestial globe on top vs. the terrestrial globe on bottom. There is a smudge on the very top left part of the painting hidden in the curtain which is actually half of a body on the crucifix which could connect to the morphed skull at the bottom of the painting This connection between the purpose of the painting suppose to be celebrating wealth, but than has hints of these grim ideas.
Medieval and Renaissance medicine The Renaissance History Junior 3
Renaissance civilisation • During the 15 th century Western civilisation experienced a process of profound change, which historians call the Renaissance (meaning 'rebirth'). The beginning of the Renaissance is often dated from AD 1453, when the fall of Constantinople drove many scholars with knowledge of Greek and Roman learning westwards. The period historians call the Early Modern Age lasted from about 1450 to about 1750. Some knowledge of Western civilisation at the time of the Renaissance will help you understand the medicine of the Early Modern Age. In the 15 th century AD, there was a 'rebirth' of European civilisation.
Six key changes
1. Governments - • Such as that of Henry VIII - were strong and rich. The economy boomed and trade prospered. People could afford doctors.
2. Artists • Artists (such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Titian) revolutionised painting - this led them to study the body in more detail, and was connected to improved knowledge of anatomy (eg the fabulous illustrations for 'Fabric of the Human Body' by John Stephen of Calcar, one of Titian's students).
3. Scientific method • There was a revival of learning. Universities established schools of medicine. The Renaissance saw the beginning of scientific method which involved conducting an experiment, collecting observations, then coming to a conclusion. At first, scholars merely claimed that they were renewing the perfection it had amongst the ancient teachers', but soon they began to conduct experiments which led them to question the knowledge of the Greeks and Romans. This was vital for the development of medicine.
4. Printing press • The invention of the printing press allowed new ideas to spread more quickly around Europe.
5. America • The discovery of America by Columbus meant that new foods and medicines were brought back from the New World.
6. New weapons • The invention of new weapons (especially gunpowder) led to soldiers getting different sorts of wounds, which battlefield doctors had to deal with.
Source analysis and question • Bezoar is a stone that grows in the stomach of a goat found in the Middle East. It was thought to be an antidote to poison (the word is Persian, and means 'counterpoison'). • The French surgeon-doctor Paré tested this in a crude and cruel scientific experiment. He gave poison to a condemned criminal, followed by bezoar, and then observed what happened:
Ambrosie Paré, 'Apology and Treatise' (1575) • “Some years ago, a gentleman boasted before King Charles that bezoar was an antidote for all poisons. . . It was an easy matter to make trial of this claim on those condemned to be hanged [and a criminal] had poison administered to him. . . • An hour after, I found him on the ground on his hands and feet like an animal, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, his eyes wild, vomiting, with blood pouring from his ears, nose and mouth. Eventually he died in great torment, seven hours after I gave him the poison. I opened his body and found the bottom of the stomach black and dry, as if it had been burned, whereby I realised that he had been given sublimate of mercury, whose force the bezoar could not stop. Therefore the king commanded: Burn it!”
Question • When you have read this famous source about bezoar, can you find evidence that Paré conducted a scientific experiment?
Answer • Paré followed a clear scientific path, with four steps, consisting of: • an aim - ". . . to make trial of this claim" • a method - ". . . had poison administered to him" • observations - ". . . died in great torment, seven hours after I gave him the poison. . . found the bottom of the stomach black and dry, as if it had been burned" • a conclusion - ". . . whose force the bezoar could not stop. Therefore the king commanded: Burn it!"
Growth of knowledge • Although the Renaissance saw an improvement in medical knowledge, particularly of anatomy and physiology, many people rejected the new ideas. • Further, doctors still did not manage to use their discoveries to develop better cures for their patients, because they had still not discovered the role that germs play in causing disease.
Renaissance medical knowledge
Renaissance medical knowledge • The Early Modern Age was an exciting time for medicine, with knowledge of the human body progressing in fundamental ways - although the causes of disease remained a mystery.
Knowledge about the body • Two key practitioners moved knowledge forwards in the Early Modern Age: • Vesalius • William Harvey
Vesalius Follower of Vesalius in graveyard, searching for bodies to dissect
Vesalius • The first was Vesalius, whose patron was Charles V of Spain. He trained at Louvain, Paris and Padua universities, and ransacked cemeteries and gibbets for bones and for bodies to dissect. • 1536 • He discovered the spermatic vessels. He also realised that the famous doctor Galen could be wrong, when he discovered that the great man was mistaken about there being two bones in the jaw, and about how muscles were attached to the bone. • 1537 • He became professor of medicine at Padua University. He said that medical students should perform dissections for themselves, stating that: ". . . our true book of the human body is man himself. " • 1543 • He published 'Fabric of the Human Body' (with high-quality annotated illustrations).
William Harvey • The second important practitioner was William Harvey who discovered the principle of the circulation of the blood through the body. He trained at Cambridge and Padua universities, and became doctor to James I and Charles I of England. • 1616 • He calculated that it was impossible for the blood to be burned up in the muscles (as Galen had claimed). • 1628 • He published 'Anatomical Account of the Motion of the Heart and Blood', which scientifically proved the principle of the circulation of the blood. This book marked the end of Galen's influence on anatomy.
Renaissance surgery • Early Modern surgery was a gruesome procedure, but physicians and surgeons such as Paracelsus and Paré started to make some progress, and passed their knowledge on. • Ambroise Paré changed people's ideas about surgery. He developed his ideas during his 20 years as a barbersurgeon, when he accompanied the French army on its campaigns. • Despite the unpleasant procedures that were part of medicine in his day, it is clear from his writings that Paré cared deeply about his patients.
Source analysis and question • Paré's discovery that cautery was a bad treatment is an excellent example of discovery by chance - his account of what happened tells a fascinating tale: 16 th-century instruments for grasping gallstones out of a patient, from 'Of Cutting the Stone' by Ambroise Paré
• “Now I was at that time a freshwater soldier. I had not yet seen wounds made by gunshot at the first dressing. It is true that I had read in Jean de Vigo, "Of Wounds in General", first book, chapter eight [that the doctor should] cauterise them with oil of elder, pouring the oil as hot as possible, into the wound. . . • Eventually my oil ran out and I was forced to use in its place a digestive made of the yolks of eggs, rose-oil and turpentine. That night I could not sleep, fearing that because of my lack of cauterisation I would find the wounded dead or poisoned. This made me wake up very early to visit them. Beyond my hope, I found those for whom I had used the digestive feeling little pain, their wounds without inflammation, having slept fairly well through the night. Those to whom I had applied the boiling oil I found feverish, with their wounds very painful and swollen. Then I decided never more to burn thus cruelly poor men wounded with gunshot. ” • Ambroise Paré, 'Apology and Treatise' (1575)
Question • Use the source to explain how Paré made his discovery by identifying an example of: • his process of scientific experiment • his ability to overturn an established idea • his care for his patients
Answer • scientific experiment • Paré's discovery was not a scientific experiment, but it had the same effect as one - he was testing cautery as a way of healing. His method was to try something different ("I was forced to use in its place"), he observed the results ("I found those for whom I had used the digestive. Those to whom I had applied the boiling oil I found"), and his conclusion was "never more to burn thus cruelly poor men wounded with gunshot". • Paré's ability to overturn an established idea • "I had read in Jean de Vigo, "Of Wounds in General", first book, chapter eight. . . " • Paré's care for his patients • "That night I could not sleep, fearing that. . . Beyond my hope, I found. . . Then I decided never more to burn thus cruelly poor men"
Diagnosis and treatment • Methods of diagnosis in the Early Modern Age did not change from the time of the Middle Ages. • Doctors were utterly unable to cure infectious disease, and were powerless in face of diseases such as the plague and syphilis.
• They did get some new drugs (eg quinine for malaria) from the New World, but generally treatment was a mixture of superstition and errors. Charles II was still asked to touch sick people, as it was said this would cure them of the 'King's Evil' (scrofula). 17 th-century engraving by Paulus Furst, of a physician wearing protective clothing, including a mask, to protect him against the plague
Source analysis - death of Charles II based on Scarburgh's description • The 'cures' tried by Charles II's doctors after he had a mild stroke - which he might have recovered from quickly today - certainly hastened his death. The following is a modern description of the treatment of Charles II, summarised from a description written by his chief physician, Sir Charles Scarburgh:
• When Charles II of England lay dying from a convulsion which attacked him while shaving, the medicos of that day left no stone unturned in helping him along to the Great Beyond. First, he was bled of a pint of blood. Then his shoulder was cut and eight ounces more of blood was extracted by cupping. • Then followed an emetic, a purgative and another purgative. Next, an enema in which they used antimony, sacred bitters, rock salt, mallow leaves, violet, beet root, camomile flowers, fennel seed, linseed, cinnamon, cardamom seed, saffron, cochineal and aloes. This enema was repeated. In two hours, another purgative was given. • The King's scalp was then shaved, and a blister raised on it. They gave him next sneezing powder of hellebore root; they sought to strengthen his brain by giving him powder of cowslip flowers. Purgatives were frequently repeated. He was given drinks of barley water, licorice, sweet almonds, white wine, absinthe, anise seed, extracts of thistles, rue, mint and angelica. When these did not cure him, they gave him a poultice of burgundy pitch and pigeon dung, to be applied to his feet. More bleeding, more purging; they added melon seeds, manna, slippery elm, black cherry water, extracts of flower of lime, lily of the valley, peony, lavender and dissolved pearls. When these did not do the trick, they went at it with gentian root, nutmeg, quinine and cloves. When this failed, he was given forty drops of extract of human skull. Then they forced down his throat a rallying dose of herbs and animal extracts. Then some powdered bezoar stone. • Alas, after an ill fated night His Serene Majesty was so exhausted that all the physicians became despondent. And so, more active cordials, and finally pearl julep [a heart tonic] and ammonia, were forced down the royal patient's throat. Then he died.
Question • Find references in the source based on Scarburgh to: • • cures connected to the four humours natural substances. exotic substances from the New World substances that had been discredited magical substances poisonous substances
Answer • cures connected to the four humours - bleeding (including cupping), purgatives, enemas, emetics, blistering, sneezing, a poultice of pitch and pigeon dung • natural substances - antimony, rock salt, mallow leaves, violet, beet root, camomile flowers, fennel seed, linseed, cinnamon, cardamom seed, saffron, cochineal, aloes, cowslip flowers, barley water, licorice, sweet almonds, white wine, absinthe, anise seed, extracts of thistles, rue, mint and angelica, melon seeds, manna, slippery elm, black cherry water, extracts of flower of lime, lily of the valley, peony, lavender, gentian root, nutmeg, cloves • exotic substances - dissolved pearls • substances from the New World - quinine • substances that had been discredited - bezoar • magical substances - extract of human skull, sacred bitters, pearl julep • poisonous substances - hellebore, ammonia
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