In this chapter, we will try to chart some of the seventeenth-century modes of depiction used to describe the nerves (and, by extension, also the brain and the nervous system), particularly in Italian anatomy and in the work of Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694). By understanding the modes of depiction, we can understand their interpretation. We will concentrate on fish eyes, which were extensively dissected by Malpighi. The ichthyic optic nerve is remarkably large, making it easier to observe details that are not observable in other animals, but as we shall see, Malpighi's findings were challenged when he compared fish with higher animals. Thus, we will deal in detail with Malpighi's experiments on comparative anatomy of the nerves, following the afterlife of the very influential images in Descartes's works, and especially in the posthumous Treatise on Man.
Through the Eyes of a Fish: Imagery of Nerves after Descartes
Tonetti, Luca
2026
Abstract
In this chapter, we will try to chart some of the seventeenth-century modes of depiction used to describe the nerves (and, by extension, also the brain and the nervous system), particularly in Italian anatomy and in the work of Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694). By understanding the modes of depiction, we can understand their interpretation. We will concentrate on fish eyes, which were extensively dissected by Malpighi. The ichthyic optic nerve is remarkably large, making it easier to observe details that are not observable in other animals, but as we shall see, Malpighi's findings were challenged when he compared fish with higher animals. Thus, we will deal in detail with Malpighi's experiments on comparative anatomy of the nerves, following the afterlife of the very influential images in Descartes's works, and especially in the posthumous Treatise on Man.
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