Seven hundred years after Mondino de Luzzi (1275-1326): method and observation in medieval neuroanatomy

The present paper reexamines the contribution of Mondino de Luzzi (1275-1326) beyond his well-known association with the reintroduction of human dissection in medieval medicine. Focusing on ventricular theory, it explores how Mondino's teaching brought traditional descriptions of the brain into closer contact with the observation of the human body through public dissection. Although his work remained firmly rooted in Galenic and Avicennian traditions, the association of cerebral ventricles with identifiable bodily structures indirectly rendered established doctrines less purely speculative and more susceptible to anatomical scrutiny and criticism. From the Renaissance onward, this contributed to a broader reevaluation of inherited anatomical and physiological theories.