Carlo Ruini (1530–1598) was one of the most noted
anatomists of the
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...
of the 16th century.
He was born into a wealthy family in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and was privately educated in the style of most upper class children. He did not receive special training as a physician or attend the famous university in Bologna. It is unknown if he received special training in art. He appears to have been an avid collector of horses and a
rider. His noted work, ''Anatomia del Cavallo'', appeared two months after his death in 1598 and was a milestone in
equine veterinary publishing. It is especially known for its well drafted
woodcut
Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...
images of
horse anatomy
Equine anatomy encompasses the gross and microscopic anatomy of horses, ponies and other equids, including donkeys, mules and zebras. While all anatomical features of equids are described in the same terms as for other animals by the Internation ...
which were heavily influenced by human anatomical works published in the decades before, especially
Andreas Vesalius
Andreas Vesalius (Latinized from Andries van Wezel) () was a 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, ''De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem'' (''On the fabric of the human body'' ' ...
' ''De Fabrica Corporis Humani'' (Basel, 1543). It was also the first (comprehensive) work or “monograph,” as it is known, on the anatomy of any animal. Numerous editions of the work were published, and its images and text were often plagiarized, including the many errors found in the first edition.
References
* Dunlop, Robert H. and David J. Williams. ''Veterinary Medicine: An Illustrated History.'' (St. Louis: Mosby, 1996). pp. 242–245.
* Karasszon, D. ''A Concise History of Veterinary Medicine.'' Trans. by E. Farkas. (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiado, 1988). pp. 253–254.
* ''Morton's Medical Bibliography (Garrison and Morton).'' Ed. By Jeremy Norman. Fifth ed. (Aldershot, Hants., England: Scolar Press; Brookfield, Vt., USA: Gower Pub. Co., 1991). No. 285.
* Prof. F. J. Cole, A History of Comparative Anatomy, p. 83, Macmillan & Co., London, 1944.
Sources
* Adapted from public domain text a
Carlo Ruini Biography Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine.
External links
Selected pages scanned from the original work. Historical Anatomies on the Web. US National Library of Medicine.
Selected images from ''Anatomia del cavallo''From The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Digital Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruini, Carlo
1530 births
1598 deaths
Italian anatomists
Italian veterinarians