Hippolito Salviani (1514–1572) was an Italian physician, scholar and naturalist, noted for his Renaissance book ''Aquatilium animalium historiae'', depicting about hundred

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

fish species, some from

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

, and a few mollusks. He also wrote works on medicine, such as that dealing with

Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one of ...

's theory of crises, and a topical play. Salviani taught at the University of Rome until 1568. From 1550 until 1555 he was chief physician to the

House of Farnese The House of Farnese family (, also , ) was an influential family in Renaissance Italy. The titles of Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Duke of Castro were held by various members of the family. Its most important members included Pope Paul I ...

and three successive popes,

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

Pope Marcellus II Pope Marcellus II ( it, Marcello II; 6 May 1501 – 1 May 1555), born Marcello Cervini degli Spannocchi, was a Papalini Catholic prelate who served as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 April 1555 until h ...

and

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...

. Salviani was born in

Città di Castello Città di Castello (); "Castle Town") is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of Umbria. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain along the upper part of the river Tiber. The city is north of ...

. He studied medicine, developing a great interest in ichthyology and in natural history generally. He enjoyed the financial support of Cardinal Cervini (later Pope Marcellus II), enabling him to explore the Mediterranean coastline. Cervini's death caused Salviani to dedicate the work to Pope Paul IV.

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

's work on fish species is one of the earliest known. In the 1500s fish enjoyed a renewed interest in both France and Italy. 1551 saw the appearance of

Pierre Belon Pierre Belon (1517–1564) was a French traveller, naturalist, writer and diplomat. Like many others of the Renaissance period, he studied and wrote on a range of topics including ichthyology, ornithology, botany, comparative anatomy, architectur ...

’s ''Histoire naturelle des estranges poissons marins'', illustrated by woodcuts. In 1554

Guillaume Rondelet Guillaume Rondelet (27 September 150730 July 1566), also known as Rondeletus/Rondeletius, was Regius professor of medicine at the University of Montpellier in southern France and Chancellor of the University between 1556 and his death in 1566. He ...

’s ''De piscibus marinis'' was published, also using woodcuts. Salviani’s work was published in parts over a period of three years. Its use of copper engraving was well-suited to depicting fish, and greatly superior to woodcuts with its lifelike rendition of eyes and scales. The copper engravings have a scientific appearance, but some details, like the correct number and position of the scales were omitted.''Rare Fish Books''
/ref> Nicolas Béatrizet probably designed the title-page and the fish illustrations were made by

Antoine Lafréry Antoine du Pérac Lafréry (1512–1577), better known as Antonio Lafreri, was a Burgundian engraver, cartographer and publisher active in Rome. Born at Orgelet in the County of Burgundy, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, Lafreri settled in Ro ...

. Another theory is that they were drawn by the Italian painter

Bernardus Aretinus Bernardus is a Latinized form of the Germanic name Bernard. It has been a given name in the Netherlands since the 17th century, though bearers tend to use a short form in daily life, like ''Barend'', ''Ben'', ''Ber'', ''Berend'', ''Bernard'', ''Ber ...

and engraved by Nicolas Béatrizet. Salviani's ''Aquatilium animalium historiae'' (1554-1558) only deals with animals personally observed and handled by him. He noted that

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

s were distinct from fishes. He collected most of the fishes for his studies from the market in Rome. Salviani died in Rome, aged about 58.

References

External links

Aquatilium animalium historiae. Liber primus cum eorumdem formis aere excusis. Rome, 1554.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salviani, Hippolito 1514 births 1572 deaths People from Città di Castello Italian naturalists 16th-century Italian physicians Italian scholars Italian ichthyologists