Bodies in ecstasy, bodies in tortuous pain, bodies devoid of life and bodies rising to the afterlife: the subject of the human is central to the work Tintoretto (1519–94) accomplished at the Scuola Grande di San Marco, home to the monumental library and medical museum of Venice's Ospedale Civile, and thus a fitting backdrop to Art, Faith and Medicine in Tintoretto's Venice, a volume that explores the representation of the human body in artistic and medical traditions in an effort to understand the role of idealized and nonidealized bodies in Renaissance culture. This book draws on archival documents, illuminated manuscripts, rare books, prints, medals, drawings and paintings to examine the interconnection between art and medicine, anatomical studies and devotional belief. Special topics such as medical care for the monks of the Scuola further enliven this central theme.
