ANATOMY DURING THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE gg 



arism and great dependence on authority; independent observa- 

 tions were rare. There was another type of picture which ap- 

 parently had the widest circulation of all; in fact, they were 

 found all over the world. They were designated as "five-figure 

 series" and their origin is obscure. There is a tradition that they 

 go back to Aristotle. They are all characteristically alike, being 

 portrayed uniformly as five, crude, human figures in squatting po- 

 sitions showing bones, muscles, nerves, arteries and veins. Some- 

 times, a sixth figure represented a pregnant woman or the genera- 

 tive organs of both sexes. 



Early in the 16th Century, one page illustrations, known as 

 fugitive sheets, were popular among the general public and medi- 

 cal men. These were commonly printed on soft, thick paper about 

 30 by 40 centimeters. In these, the figure was ordinarily sur- 

 rounded by the textual material with a decorative margin on the 

 outside. They were usually printed in black and white but some 

 were in color and in different languages, in Latin as well as the 

 \ernacular. Some were undoubtedly printed to satisfy the curi- 

 osity of the common people; the so-called Adam and Eve plates 

 revealing the abdominal and sometimes thoracic viscera were 

 especially popular (Crummer, '23). 



