Bartolomeo Squarcialupi - Libro de cauteri
Without modern sutures and antiseptics, the best way to cleanly close a wound was through cauterization – the application of hot irons. This manuscript consists of fragments of three separate medical texts from the 14-15th centuries that were bound together in a single volume during the 19th century. Bartolomeo Squarcialupi, a physician from Padua, is the author of the primary text. The artful and accurate drawings of the human form are accompanied by neatly written passages with intricate red and blue initials. Aside from being a useful medical handbook, the text is a source of information on the architecture, clothing, and dialects of Northern Italy in the 15th century.
Bartolomeo Squarcialupi - Libro de cautery
Bearing the full title Libro de le experiençe che fa el cauterio del fuocho ne corpi umani, this is a medical treatise attributed to the doctor Patavino Bartolomeo Squarcialupi, which specializes in the various applications of cauterization. The text on the applications of hot irons is composed in a hybrid of Venetian and archaic Italian dialects and was produced sometimes around the turn of the 15th century in Padua, Italy. The illumination in the manuscript is part of a Paduan illustrative tradition from the court of the Carraresi family that was strongly influenced by Giotto (ca. 1267–1337). It has been conventionally known as Libro or Trattato dei cauteri since it was thus identified by the Italian doctor Giuseppe Albertotti (1851–1936) in his 1908 outline of the work. In its current state, the manuscript represents a larger, fragmentary codex, whose missing parts were then replaced with loose pages and bound sometime in the 19th century. Altogether, three medical texts have been bound together, all originating from either the late–14th or early 15th centuries. The text is written in a neat Gothic script, which is adorned with intricate initials in red and blue, as well as surprisingly accurate depictions of human anatomy in delicately colored miniatures.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Libro del cauterio
Bartolomeo Squarcialupi - Buch der Kauter
Trattato dei cauteri
Libro dele experience che fa el cauterio del fuocho ne corpi humani - Size / Format
- 24 pages / 28.5 × 20.2 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- Late 14th or early 15th century
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Artist / School
- Bartolomeo Squarcialupi (author)
Probably Antonio di Pietro
Giotto influence
Carraresi court style - Previous Owners
- Fanzago family
Bartolomeo Squarcialupi - Libro de cauteri
Man with Head Injuries
Most of the figures in this manuscript are depicted with European features and blonde or red hair, but this person is different. Depicted in profile, his facial features appear more African and unlike the rest of the figures, his hands are bound in front of him, yet he wears a crown. Thus, he is a foreign king who was been captured in battle and sustained a head injury as indicated by the red dots on his forehead and behind his ear, which will require cauterization.

Bartolomeo Squarcialupi - Libro de cauteri
Diagram of the Circulatory System
Although crude by modern standards, this full-page miniature represents the cutting edge of medical knowledge concerning the circulatory system in late medieval Europe, when dissections were rarely performed. More than two dozen different locations are specified with explanatory commentaries, each proceeded by a red initial.
The miniature depicting a sturdily built adult man with a blond beard and curly hair simultaneously shows his outer features, such as the contours of his torso, and his blood vessels. Its naturalism exhibits clear influences from the works of Giotto. With respect to the larger arteries found in the neck, armpits, groin, and legs, this is a fairly accurate depiction of the circulatory system.

#1 Libro del cauterio
Languages: English, Italian
The commentary volume contains a transcription of the text as well as an interdisciplinary assemblage of essays that analyze the text, the manuscript, and its context. In addition, the facsimile edition includes both a printed and a digital version of the restoration report, which details the manuscript's features, language, content, and drawings.
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