Wound Man

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From Hans von Gersdorff's Feldtbuch der Wundartzney (Strasburg, 1528).
From Hans von Gersdorff's Feldtbuch der Wundartzney (Strasburg, 1528).
From Johannes de Ketham's Fasiculo de Medicina (Venice, 1495).
From Johannes de Ketham's Fasiculo de Medicina (Venice, 1495).

Wound Man is an illustration which first appeared in European surgical texts in the Middle Ages. It laid out schematically the various wounds a person might suffer in battle or in accidents, often with surrounding or accompanying text stating treatments for the various different injuries. It first appeared in print in Johannes de Ketham's Fasciculus Medicinae (Venice, 1492) and was used often in surgical texts throughout the 16th century and even into the 17th century.

In the novel Red Dragon, the serial killer Hannibal Lecter arranges his sixth victim like the illustration Wound Man. The book's protagonist, Will Graham, realises this and captures Lecter.

(Fieldbook of Wound Surgery) published in Strasbourg in 1530.