Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Angela Belli

  • Ending one’s life on the stage

    Angela Belli New York City, New York, United States   Writers and physicians often share the same sensibilities and skills required to describe the disease process and its wider effects. But while the literary artist, unlike the physician, relies on his imagination to realize the experience of his fictional characters, he can also engage the…

  • Dr. Blockhead’s victory: up there, down here

    Angela Belli Queens, New York, United States   The iconic image of the prizefighter raising his hands above his head in a gesture of victory is given life in Flannery O’Connor’s The Enduring Chill.1 He appears not as a heavyweight champion of the world but as a country doctor. The main character in the story…

  • Andreas Vesalius’ audience speaks out

    Angela BelliQueens, New York, United States Andreas Vesalius’ The Fabric of the Human Body marks not only a milestone in medical history but, by virtue of its extraordinary illustrations, offers ample evidence of medicine and art complementing each other. The frontispiece of the work, depicting an audience witnessing a dissection performed by Vesalius, portrays a…