I’ve always found it interesting that medicine and art were so closely integrated during the Scientific Revolution. I suppose it has to do with how much of the self is tied up in ideas of spirituality. Art and spirituality have always been tied together (made clear by the huge body of artwork devoted to various deities), as has the human ideal of self. Colombian artist Fernando Botero said that “Art is a spiritual, immaterial respite from the hardships of life.” (Botero)
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| Sketch of human arm, by Da Vinci |
It’s really interesting that during medieval
times only registered artists were allowed to dissect human corpses. (Science
Museum)
As much of art that is centered on deities, more of it,
perhaps, is centered on reflecting other humans. Some of the earliest artworks,
cave paintings found in Indonesia are handprint
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| Maxime Aubert, right, and a team member work inside one of the limestone caves on Sulawesi where ancient cave art was found. (Vergano) |
“The age discovered for the oldest hand stencil in the
cave—39,900 years old—is therefore merely the minimum age of the minerals
coating the image, meaning the art could be thousands of years older.” (Vergano)
Perhaps it comes down to skill sets. As stated in Professor
V’s video, “the treatment of the disease was understood to be routed in the
accurate representation of the human body.” (Vesna, 4.37) and for the longest
time it was artists who had the most ability to draw and represent the human
form. There’s also unity of purpose, in both medicine and art the goal is to
convey information to a great number of people at once.
 |
| MRI Image from Memory Loss Online |
Advancing technology allows different stories to be told as
well. As Silvia Casini states in her article on MRI imaging, the question of
what defines us as human is all wrapped up in our perception of humans (Casini
3). And art is all about asking those kind of questions. MRI technology shows
the brain in non-physical shades and hews, and what is art but non-physical.
Casini,
Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI
Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations 19.1 (2011):
73-99. Web.
"Fernando
Botero Quotes." QuoteHD. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.quotehd.com/quotes/fernando-botero-quote-art-is-a-spiritual-immaterial-respite-from-the-hardships>.
Geographic,
By Dan Vergano National. "Cave Paintings in Indonesia Redraw Picture of
Earliest Art." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web.
27 Apr. 2015.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/10/141008-cave-art-sulawesi-hand-science/>.
"Medicine
Pt1." YouTube. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=257&v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.
"Memory Loss & the Brain." Memory Loss & the Brain. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.memorylossonline.com/glossary/magneticresonanceimaging.html>.
"Using
the Dead." Using the Dead. Science Museum's History of Medicine, n.d. Web.
27 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/understandingthebody/dead.aspx>.
"Studies of the Arm showing the Movements made by the Biceps". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Studies_of_the_Arm_showing_the_Movements_made_by_the_Biceps.jpg#/media/File:Studies_of_the_Arm_showing_the_Movements_made_by_the_Biceps.jpg
