Manuscript X 188 in the National Library of Sweden dates to around 1425–35 and contains two works by John Arderne (active 1307–70), an abridged version of <em>De arte phisicali et de cirurgia</em> (Of the physical arts and surgery) and <em>Fistula in ano</em>. Also included is a tract on obstetrics by another author, Muscio. <em>De arte phisicali et de cirurgia</em> is a textbook on medicine and surgery; <em>Fistula in ano</em> deals with rectal disorders. The manuscript is written in two long columns on a parchment roll that is 542 centimeters long by 36 centimeters wide and illustrated with a number of small and larger images. The small images, in the margins, portray people afflicted with various ailments. The standing figures between the columns illustrate the different systems of the human body. There is also an image of a woman in childbirth as well as 15 drawings of the fetus. On the back of the roll is an image of an operation on the digestive tract. Also visible are four anatomical figures depicted from the back in cut-away views. The images of surgical tools used for operations are found on both sides of the roll. The Stockholm roll possibly was commissioned by Phillippa, the English princess who, in 1406, married the Swedish king Eric of Pomerania. John Arderne was her grandfather’s physician.
<br>Fistula; Human anatomy; Illuminations; Medicine, Medieval; Obstetrics
Arderne, John, active 1307-1370
between 1425 and 1435 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1450-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1425-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1435-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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