Images from Ophthalmodouleia are a collection of bizarre 1500s medical drawings that depict various eye conditions. Published by German physician Georg Bartisch, the 92 woodcut renderings allow the reader to "dissect" the eye and head by using paper flaps. This sounds like great fun, and I'm jealous of anyone who has gotten to play with the book.
If I saw these images without context, I'd think they were surreal, fine art drawings about a human fly, and a man with a doorway on his forehead that leads to another dimension. I'd never have guessed they were medical drawings.
From The Public Domain Review:
"Images from Ophthalmodouleia: Das ist, Augendienst, the first Renaissance manuscript on ophthalmic disorders and eye surgery, published in 1583 by German physician Georg Bartisch (1535–1607), considered by many to be the "father of modern ophthalmology". The work contains a total of 92 woodcuts each depicting diseases of the eye – some using an overlay technique enabling the reader to "dissect" parts of the head or eye by lifting up a series of flaps. Accompanying the images is a detailed discussion of ocular diseases, surgical techniques, and instruments used, all written in Bartisch's native German rather than Latin, a highly unusual move for the time. Despite his scientific calling, Bartisch was a superstitious man, believing that astrology, magic, and witchcraft played a significant part in the causes of disease."
(Image from Public Domain Review)
