Abstract
BackgroundThe Medici project consisted in archeological and paleopathological researches on some members of the great dynasty of the Italian Renaissance. The remains of Giovanni de’ Medici, so-called “dalle Bande Nere” (Forlì 1498- Mantua 1526) have not been investigated yet. The enigma of the fatal injury and leg amputation of the famous Captain excited curiosity of paleopathologists, medical scientists and Italian Society of Orthopedic and Traumatology which contributed to realize the project of exhumation and study of his skeletal remains. The aim of the study is to report the first anthropological and paleopathological results.Case presentationThe tomb of Giovanni and his wife Maria Salviati was explored and the skeletal remains were investigated. Anthropological and paleopathological examination defined: age at death, physical constitution and activity, skeletal diseases. The bones of the leg were studied macroscopically, under stereoscopic microscope, at X-ray and CT scans to detect type of injury and level of amputation.ConclusionsThe skeleton and muscular insertions of Giovanni revealed a young-adult and vigorous man, subjected to stresses of military activity since adolescence. Right tibia was amputated below the proximal half of diaphysis leaving long tibio-fibular stumps with a horizontal cut only at the lateral portion. Thus, the surgeon limited to complete the traumatic hemi-amputation. Amputation in the Sixteenth Century technically consisted in guillotine incisions below the knee using crescent shaped knife and bony saw, usually leaving a quite long tibial stump. Amputations in the Sixteenth Century were contaminated and grossly performed not providing vascular binding nor wound closure. The surgeon performed the procedure in conformity with surgical knowledge of that period.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2474-15-301) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The Medici project consisted in archeological and paleopathological researches on some members of the great dynasty of the Italian Renaissance
Within the framework of the Medici Project, the enigma of the fatal injury and leg amputation of the Captain Giovanni de’ Medici, so-called “dalle Bande Nere” (Forlì 1498- Mantova 1526) (Figure 1) recently excited curiosity of paleopathologists, medical scientists and orthopedics who contributed to the realization of infected; Giovanni had been seriously wounded at the same leg one year before by an harquebus, an episode that had implied many cures and a long period of rest
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere is a central figure of the Italian Renaissance
Summary
Giovanni dalle Bande Nere is a central figure of the Italian Renaissance He was son of Giovanni de’ Medici and Caterina Sforza, nephew of the Popes Leone X and Clemente VII, both named de’ Medici, father of the first Gran Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I. He was at the center of the genealogic tree of the epic Florentine family and in the middle of the Franco-Spanish wars that took place in northern Italy in the early decades of the Sixteenth century.
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