Juan Valverde, or Building a “Spanish Anatomy” in 16th Century Rome

Abstract

The paper focus on the sojourn in Rome of the Spanish anatomist Juan de Valverd. His role, both within the Spanish community and the political and cultural framework of the city, will be examined in various places of the urban context, to show the way in which he built his professional identity within Roman medical circles and he had been integrated into its polycentric system of scientific patronage. His cultural background and his professional activities will be examined in order to understand how he contributed to the development of medical knowledge and practice in the city and how his experience took part in the constitution of an anatomical knowledge between two horizons, the Roman and the Spanish. By examining this scientific and professional personality and his insertion in the Roman setting, I would shed light on a specific aspects of a wider history of meeting between Rome and Spain.