Conclusion

Few books have had such a lasting impact as the De humani corporis fabrica of Andreas Vesalius. In one fell swoop, it set new standards in anatomy and in the printing of scientific and illustrated books. If its strikingly beautiful images of the body were what has principally attracted the attention of scholars and connoisseurs, its message that the human body should be investigated principally through human corpses has been the motto of anatomists ever since.