All Renaissance physicians believed that a woman's body was strongly influenced by the womb (or uterus), an organ considered to have exceptional sensitivity. Unlike the liver, heart, etc. the womb was known to have the ability to shift position, rising up and falling back. It was believed that unpleasant influences caused particular movements, leading to the mental and physical state known as hysteria. In order to tame the wandering womb and drive it back down to its rightful position lower in the body, the woman might be required to breathe unpleasant smells while sweet fumigations were applied to the vagina. The unpleasant discharges from the womb were also held responsible for many maladies, including the retention or corruption of the female seed and of menstrual blood. For anatomists like Vesalius or Charles Estienne, the uterus merits close study. Anatomical illustrations of the womb may sometimes also evoke images of female beauty, as in later (1580) editions of the work of Jakob Rueff.
Pour tous les médecins de la Renaissance, c'est la matrice (ou l'utérus) qui règle le corps féminin. Cet organe est considéré d'une sensibilité extrême. A l'encontre du foie, du coeur, etc., la matrice se meut librement, surtout lorsqu'elle est irritée, et on la croit donc responsable de bon nombre des maladies de la femme, notamment de l'hystérie. Afin de ramener dans sa position naturelle cet organe migrateur, on fait respirer aux "hystériques" des odeurs nauséabondes tout en appliquant des fumigations appétisantes dans le vagin...
La substance vénéneuse qu'elle est capable de degager peut également entraîner maints désordres, dont la retention ou la corruption de la semence féminine et des menstrues.
Pour les anatomistes, tels Vésale ou Charles Estienne, l'utérus est un organe qui mérite une étude approfondie. Parfois, les planches qui exposent la matrice ne manquent pas d'évoquer la beauté féminine, comme c'est le cas dans des éditions ultérieures (en 1580) du traité d'obstétrique de Jakob Rueff.
All Renaissance physicians believed that a woman's body was strongly influenced by the womb (or uterus), an organ considered to have exceptional sensitivity. Unlike the liver, heart, etc. the womb was known to have the ability to shift position, rising up and falling back. It was believed that unpleasant influences caused particular movements, leading to the mental and physical state known as hysteria. In order to tame the wandering womb and drive it back down to its rightful position lower in the body, the woman might be required to breathe unpleasant smells while sweet fumigations were applied to the vagina. The unpleasant discharges from the womb were also held responsible for many maladies, including the retention or corruption of the female seed and of menstrual blood. For anatomists like Vesalius or Charles Estienne, the uterus merits close study. Anatomical illustrations of the womb may sometimes also evoke images of female beauty, as in later (1580) editions of the work of Jakob Rueff.