Vol. 129 No. 2 (2025)
Original Article

An anatomical interpretation of Pesellino’s Miracle of St. Anthony of Padua

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  • Elisa Zucchini,
  • Domenico Ribatti,
  • Ferdinando Paternostro,
  • Immacolata Belviso,
  • Donatella Lippi
Elisa Zucchini
Department of History, Archaeology, Geography, Fine and Performing Art, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Domenico Ribatti
Department of Translational Biomedicine and Neuroscience, University of Bari Medical School, Bari, Italy
Ferdinando Paternostro
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Immacolata Belviso
Department of Psychology and Health Sciences, Telematic University Pegaso, Naples, Italy
Donatella Lippi
Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/ijae-16623

Published 2025-12-30

Keywords

  • art and medicine,
  • history of anatomy,
  • anatomical dissection,
  • Uffizi,
  • Vesalius

How to Cite

Zucchini, E., Ribatti, D., Paternostro, F., Belviso, I., & Lippi, D. (2025). An anatomical interpretation of Pesellino’s Miracle of St. Anthony of Padua. Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, 129(2), 29–31. https://doi.org/10.36253/ijae-16623

Copyright (c) 2025 Elisa Zucchini, Domenico Ribatti, Ferdinando Paternostro, Immacolata Belviso, Donatella Lippi

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Background: The research takes inspiration from field trips at the Uffizi Gallery organized by the Department of Medicine of the University of Florence, in which professors encourage students to discuss medical aspects of artworks, and the participation of an art historian fosters interdisciplinary dialogue. Methods: The research started with the historical contextualisation and stylistic and iconographic analysis of the painting. Then, it dealt with the evaluation of Renaissance medical sources and the bibliography about the painting. Lastly, it compared the painting with contemporary texts and images. Results: The research evidenced that Pesellino meant to represent an anatomy lesson as it used to be carried out in Medieval universities, under the guise of a miracle of saint Anthony of Padua. Conclusions: The paper could contribute to the investigation of anatomical knowledge of artists and iconographic documentation of medical practice in the fifteenth century.

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