The Wounded Man: A Fascinating Story of Pain and Healing
Since its first appearance during the Middle Ages, an image became part of medical and surgical learning.
The image shows a man (and sometimes, a woman) with several knives, swords, arrows, axes and hammers in the process of injuring his body, with exposed bones, an inflamed neck and swollen glands, and venomous animals biting his feet. It’s yet an eloquent image of human suffering and pain.
The “Wounded Man,” Der verwundete Mann, as he appeared in numerous medical and surgical treatises since the Middle Ages. Wundarznei, “Surgery”, by the famous German surgeon, Ortolf von Bauerland, from the 14th century, bore the first documented appearance of the “Wounded Man.”
Although the figure of the Wounded Man may seem morbid, or even grotesque, to the modern reader, his use during the Middle Ages and later years served a rather editorial purpose; he served as an index for navigating to the contents of the book. In addition to the numerous wounds inflicted on his flesh, there were also short texts which led back to the page where the procedure for the healing of wounds was discussed in depth.
The Wounded Man was never merely a “sadistic” illustration. He was a way for the doctor or surgeon to quickly search for the section describing how to treat the wound or disease. The image also appealed to the imaginations of medical students, who were given an idea of all of the forms of pain a body could suffer as a result of war, accident and epidemic diseases like the Black Death which ravaged Europe during the Middle Ages.
With the invention of the printing process, the Wounded Man lost some of his crudeness and drama, but his function remained the same. It was in the Fasciculus medicinae, published in Venice in 1491, that he made his first printed appearance.
Another curious thing about the figure is that he also records the aesthetic changes in the representation of the human body over many centuries. The Wounded Man appeared in Italian, Spanish, and German medical treatises, in both luxury and hand-copied versions, with inscriptions around him, and as a merely ornamental motif, as on the cover of Das Buch der cirurgia, the “Book of Surgery,” a 1497 work of Hieronymus Brunschwig.
Military technology and its development historically can also be seen reflected in the body of the Wounded Man, as different types of swords appear, from sabers to scimitars, depending on the historical enemy of the time. Even cannonballs appear in a version presented by Hans von Gersdorff in his book Feldbuch der Wundarznei, “Fieldbook of surgery,” from 1517.
The Wounded Man iconographically recalls representations of Saint Sebastian, a saint tied to a tree stoically enduring numerous arrows fired into his body. The Wounded Man though refers to the human body’s resilience, its capacity to be cured, and the expertise of surgeons who relied on him to as a resource for the sick and the injured. To paraphrase Voltaire, the efficacy of medicine is in allowing nature to heal the sick.
Image: Public Domain
Related Articles
Pictorial spiritism (a woman's drawings guided by a spirit)
There are numerous examples in the history of self-taught artists which suggest an interrogation of that which we take for granted within the universe of art. Such was the case with figures like
Astounding fairytale illustrations from Japan
Fairy tales tribal stories— are more than childish tales. Such fictions, the characters of which inhabit our earliest memories, aren’t just literary works with an aesthetic and pleasant purpose. They
A cinematic poem and an ode to water: its rhythms, shapes and textures
Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. - John Keats Without water the equation of life, at least life as we know it, would be impossible. A growing hypothesis holds that water, including the
Watch beauty unfold through science in this "ode to a flower" (video)
The study of the microscopic is one of the richest, most aesthetic methods of understanding the world. Lucky is the scientist who, upon seeing something beautiful, is able to see all of the tiny
To invent those we love or to see them as they are? Love in two of the movies' favorite scenes
So much has been said already, of “love” that it’s difficult to add anything, much less something new. It’s possible, though, perhaps because even if you try to pass through the sieve of all our
This app allows you to find and preserve ancient typographies
Most people, even those who are far removed from the world of design, are familiar with some type of typography and its ability to transform any text, help out dyslexics or stretch an eight page paper
The secrets of the mind-body connection
For decades medical research has recognized the existence of the placebo effect — in which the assumption that a medication will help produces actual physical improvements. In addition to this, a
The sea as infinite laboratory
Much of our thinking on the shape of the world and the universe derives from the way scientists and artists have approached these topics over time. Our fascination with the mysteries of the
Sharing and collaborating - natural movements of the creative being
We might sometimes think that artistic or creative activity is, in essence, individualistic. The Genesis of Judeo-Christian tradition portrays a God whose decision to create the world is as vehement
John Malkovich becomes David Lynch (and other characters)
John Malkovich and David Lynch are, respectively, the actor and film director who’ve implicitly or explicitly addressed the issues of identity and its porous barriers through numerous projects. Now