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Renaissance Surgeon

Arch Facial Plast Surg. 2001;3:283-284.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

THE RENAISSANCE or "rebirth" marked a transition in civilization that emerged from Italy in the 14th century and reached its height during the 15th and 16th centuries. The foundation of modern anatomical studies was laid, and anatomy changed from a Galenic to a Vesalian discipline. It was with this impetus that the first and perhaps one of the greatest textbooks of plastic surgery was written.

The first book exclusively devoted to plastic surgery, and particularly nasal reconstruction, was written by Gaspare Tagliacozzi (1545-1599) of Bologna, Italy, in the late 16th century (Figure 1). Before the Renaissance, methods of repairing the nose damaged in duels, or other forms of combat, were maintained as proprietary secrets by families of barber surgeons. Although Celsus and other earlier writers had discussed aspects of plastic surgical operations, Tagliacozzi was the first to establish their scientific validity and to improve techniques in light of . . . [Full Text of this Article]