Mondino de Luzzi, or de Liuzzi or de Lucci,, also known as Mundinus, was an Italian physician, anatomist and professor of surgery, who lived and worked in Bologna. He is often credited as the restorer of anatomy because he made seminal contributions to the field by reintroducing the practice of public dissection of human cadavers and writing the first modern anatomical text.
Mondino de Luzzi, "Lesson in Anatomy", originally published in Anathomia corporis humani, 1493. Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
Dissection of Heart, from Mondino Dei Luzzi's Anatomia Mundini, Ad Vetustis, 1541
Section of Brain in dissected Skull, from Mondino Dei Luzzi's Anatomia Mundini, Ad Vetustis, 1541
Anathomia, 1541
Dissection is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause of death in humans. Less extensive dissection of plants and smaller animals preserved in a formaldehyde solution is typically carried out or demonstrated in biology and natural science classes in middle school and high school, while extensive dissections of cadavers of adults and children, both fresh and preserved are carried out by medical students in medical schools as a part of the teaching in subjects such as anatomy, pathology and forensic medicine. Consequently, dissection is typically conducted in a morgue or in an anatomy lab.
Dissection of a pregnant rat in a biology class
Ginkgo seed in dissection, showing embryo and gametophyte.
Dissection tools. Left to right: scalpels with No. 20 and No. 12 blades, two forceps and scissors
Galen (129–c.200 AD), Opera omnia, dissection of a pig. Engraving made in Venice, 1565