Aveva studiato medicina all'Archiginnasio di Roma, ma coltivava anche gli studi umanistici, le lingue araba, greca ed ebraica. Per qualche tempo restò a Urbino, alla corte del duca Guidobaldo della Rovere, che proteggeva gli scienziati, dove si dedicò anche allo studio delle matematiche. Nel 1549 seguì a Roma il cardinale Giulio della Rovere e qui venne nominato membro del Collegio medico, archiatra pontificio e professore di anatomia umana alla Sapienza. Conservò tali cariche fino alla morte. Fu un celebre anatomista e insieme al Vesalio e al Falloppio, fa tra i massimi riformatori dell'anatomia. Celeberrima la sua scoperta delle "trombe di Eustachio", nell'apparato uditivo umano, cioè il condotto che unisce la cassa del timpano con le fosse nasali. Individuò inoltre le valvole delle coronarie; precisò ulteriormente la struttura di alcune ossa del cranio; cercò di determinare la struttura dei denti e quella dei reni. Tra i testi anatomici da lui scritti, ricordiamo: Opuscula anatomica, vdc. De rerum structura, De auditus organis, Ossium examen, De motu capitis, De vena azygos, De dentibus, Le tabulae anatomicae. Fece disegnare da un artista, che qualcuno vuole sia stato lo stesso Tiziano, le tavole anatomiche frutto dei suoi studi, poi pubblicate solo nel 1714. Anche il figlio Ferrante (1541 - 1593) fu medico, docente di medicina alla Sapienza di Roma e medico condotto, nonché lettore di medicina a Macerata dal 1583

Associated eponyms:
Eustachian catheter
A catheter devised by Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, French physician, 1774-1838.

Eustachian cushion
A swelling at the entrance of the auditory tube into the naso-pharynx.

Eustachian tube
This 3-4 cm tubular structure connecting the nose with the middle ear permits communication between the inner ear and the external atmosphere so that equal pressure is maintained on either side of the eardrum.

Eustachian valve
Obsolete term for the Valvula venae cavae inferiore.

Eustachianography
Radiologic examination of the eustachian tube and middle ear after the introduction of a contrast agent.




Works by Bartolomeo Eustachi
Eustachi’s first works were Ossium examen and De motu capitis, both written in 1561.

In 1562 and 1563 Eustachi produced a remarkable series of treatises on the kidney, the auditory organ, the venous system, and the teeth. These were published, together with the two earlier defences of Galen, in Opuscula anatomica (1564).

The treatise on the kidney was the first work specifically dedicated to that organ - it displays a detailed knowledge of the kidney which shows that he possessed knowledge of the organ that surpasses that of his predecessors, and contains the first account of the adrenal gland (suprarenal gland) and a correct determination of the relative levels of the kidneys. It was also in this treatise that Eustachi for the first time emphasized the problem of anatomical variation, which had been previously touched upon briefly by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564).

In Opuscula anatomica, Eustachi, basing his work on the dissection of foetuses and newborn children, was also the first to make a study of the teeth in considerable detail. His treatise contains an early description of the first and second dentitions as well as the tooth's basic composition of enamel and dentin, in some respects preceded by the account of Falloppio. He further attempted an explanation of the problem, not yet completely solved, of the sensitivity of the tooth’s hard structure.

The second treatise on the auditory organ provides a correct account of the tube (tuba auditiva) that is still referred to eponymously by Eustachi’s name, and contains a description of the tensor tympani and stapedius muscles. Eustachi’s claim to discovery of the stapes is inadmissible, however, since it had been mentioned orally by the Italian physician and anatomist Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia (1510-1580) in 1546 and in print by the Spanish physcian and anatomist Pedro Jimeno (Gimeno) in 1549, Louis Collado (Ludovigo Collado) in 1555 and the Italian anatomist Gabriello Falloppio (1523-1562) in 1561. Since Ingrassia's description did not appear in print until 1603, priority must be given Jimeno.

Although Eustachi is rightfully credited the first accurate description of the tuba auditiva, the first description of the structure is attributed to Almaceon of Sparta in 400 BC. It was his belief that the eustachian tube allowed goats to breath through their ears as well as their noses.

A theory exists that the Eustachius discovery of the connection between the middle ear and the pharynx later inspired Shakespeare to write his play Hamlet – whose father was killed by poison poured into his ear. Another explanation for the possibility of a murder via auris, which was known to occur in 16th century Italy, is based on the knowledge of that time about the possibilities of direct absorption of some substances from the ear.

In his work on the azygos vein and its ramifications Eustachi described the thoracic duct and the Eustachian valve - the valvula venae cava inferioris in the right ventricle of the heart, indicating a careful and relatively advanced knowledge of the heart’s structure.

Eustachi is considered the first comparative anatomist, as he was the first to refer to conditions in the animal realm for comparison and elucidation, and his treatises contain a developmental history of the kidneys and the teeth. Several of the discoveries ascribed to Lorenzo Bellini (1643-1704) were made by Eustachi.

Riders of the lost masterpiece
In 1552 Eustachi, with the help of Pier Matteo Pini, a relative and an artist from Urbino, prepared a series of forty-seven anatomical illustrations for a medical treatise; these were engraved, two on the obverse and reverse of a single copper plate, by Giulio de’ Musi of Rome. The illustrations were prepared for a book entitled De dissensionibus ac controversiis anatomicis but were never published. The first eight large octavo plates, labelled Tabula Prima-Octava, were used in the Opuscula anatomica.

Since Eustachi mentioned forty-seven plates in the Opuscula anatomica but actually made use of only eight of them in that work, the remaining 39 seem to have been lost after his death and were sought for long and unsuccessfully - by Marcello Malpighi, among others. Ultimately the missing thirty-nine engravings were discovered in the early eighteenth century - after 162 years - in the possession of a descendant of Pier Matteo Pini, to whom Eustachi had, as it was learned, bequeathed them They were purchased by Pope Clement XI for 600 scudi and presented to Giovanni Maria Lancisi, his physician and a successor to Eustachi in the chair of anatomy at the Sapienza.

Lancisi, on the advice of Morgagni, published the plates, together with the eight smaller ones that had already appeared in 1564, under the title Tabulae anatomicae Bartholomaei Eustachi quas a tenebris tandem vindicatas (Anatomical Illustrations of Bartholomeo Eustachi Rescued from Obscurity) in 1714. Although devoid of Eustachi’s planned text, the plates alone assure him a distinguished position in the history of anatomy.

The series of plates contains depictions of muscles, bones, the abdominal structure, the thorax and the vascular system. Particularly notable is Tabula XVIII, displaying the base of the brain and the sympathetic nervous system. Sometimes, as in the instance of the «musclemen», they display both sides of the body in juxtaposition, with a numbered rule on three sides of the figures to which numbered references are made in the text for identification of detail. Despite such finesse, oddly enough, the plates are arranged in a way that suggests the pattern of dissection that had been followed from medieval times up to that of Vesalius, that is, beginning with the most corruptible parts and continuing thence to the least corruptible. Thus the Eustachian plates begin with the abdominal structures, then those of the thorax, followed by the nervous system, vascular system, muscles, and finally the bones.

Although from an artistic point of view they are not as well done as the anatomical plates of Vesalius, from the point of view of anatomy they are sometimes more accurate than Vesalius'. Had the plates been published at the time they were executed, Eustachi would undoubtedly have ranked with Vesalius as founder of modern anatomy, and anatomical studies would have reached maturity in the seventeenth rather than in the eighteenth century.

Bibliography:

• Ossium examen. 1561.
  
  
• De motu capitis.
  1561. Eustachi’s two first works were directed against the anti-Galenism of Vesalius.
  
  
• Epistola de auditus organis. 1562.
  Contains his description of the Eustachian tube.
  
  
• De renum structura. 1562. On the kidney.
  
  
• De vena quae azygos graecis dicitur.
  On the venous system.
  
  
• Libellus de renibus. Venice, 1563.
  
  
• Libellus de dentibus. Venice, 1563. On the teeth.
  
  
• Opuscula anatomicae. Venetiis, V. Luchinus, 1564.
  Reprinted in Leiden, 1707, and Delft, 1726.
  This exceedingly rare book is the first compilation of his works on the teeth, adrenal body, ear, and venous system. Contains his description of the Eustachian tube.
  
  
• Tabulae anatomicae Bartholomaei Eustachii quas e tenebris tandem vindicatas
  præfatione notisque illustravit, ac ipso suæ bibliothecæ dedicationis die publici juris fecit Jo. Maria Lancisus.
  Rome, Francesco Gonzaga, 1714. Folio.
  Republished in Amsterdam, 1722, with copies of the original plates.
  Rome, 1828, with the original plates.
  Leiden, 1744, with newly engraved copies of the plates accompanied by separate outline plates of equal size on which explanatory letters were engraved. This edition, edited by B. S. Albinus, is the most desirable one for puposes of study.
  Further editions: Venice, 1769; Amsterdam, 1798, in German translation; and
  Amsterdam, 1800.
  Finally there is a commentary as well as an edition of the plates by Gaetano Petrioli, to whom Lancisi bequeathed them, Reflessioni anatomiche sulle note de lancisi fatte sopra le tavole del cel. B. Eustachio (Rome, 1740). It is chiefly of significance for for the attached biography of Eustachi by Bernardo Gentili.
  
  Works relating to the early descriptions of the stapes:
  
  
• Pedro Jimeno (Gimeno):
  Dialogus de re medica, compendiaria, summe nevessarius omnibus medicinae candidatis.
  Valencia, 1549. With Jimeno’s description of the stapes.
  
  
• Giovanni Filippo Ingrassia:
  In Galeni librum de ossibus doctissima et expectatissima commentaria etc.
  Published posthumously by his grandson. Palermo, 1603.
  Venice, 1604. Containing his description of the stapes.
  
  
• Ludovigo Collado:
  In Galeni librum de ossibus commentarius. Valencia, 1555.
  
  Biographical etc:
  
  
• G. Bilanconi:
  Bartolomeo Eustachi. Florence, 1913.
  
  
• Memorie e documenti riguardanti Bartolomeo Eustachio publicati nel quarto centenaroi della nascita. Fabriano, 1913. A collection of documents.
  
  
• Pietro Capparoni:
  Profili bio-bibliografici di medici e naturalisti celebri italiani dal sec. XV al sec. XVII.
  2 volumes. Rome, 1925-28. Second edition, 1932.
  
  
• Gaetano Luigi Marini,
  Degli archiatri pontifici.
  2 volumes. (Rome, 1784), 1, 417-418.

Note: the creators of the Galileo Project and this catalogue cannot answer email on genealogical questions.

1. Dates

Born: San Severino, Ancona, c. 1500-1510

Died: in Umbria, while travelling to join Card. della Rovere, 27 Aug. 1574

Dateinfo: Birth Uncertain

Lifespan: 74

2. Father

Occupation: Physician

His father, Mariano Eustachi, was a physician, said to have been of noble family.

I assume affluence as always with physicians.

3. Nationality

Birth: Italian

Career: Italian

Death: Italian

4. Education

Schooling: Sapienza (Rome), M.D.

He had a good humanistic education, in the course of which he acquired an excellent knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. He appears to have studied medicine at the Archiginnasio della Sapienza in Rome, and I assume the studies led to an M.D. I also assume a B.A. or its equivalent.

5. Religion

Affiliation: Catholic

6. Scientific Disciplines

Primary: Anatomy, Medicine

In 1562 and 1563 Eustachi produced a remarkable series of treatises on the kidney, the auditory organ (De auditus organis), the venous system, and the teeth. These were published in Opuscula anatomica (1564). The treatise on the kidney was the first work specifically dedicated to that organ. The teatise on the auditory organ provided a correct account of the tuba auditiva that is still referred to eponymously by Eustachi's name. He was also the first who made a study of the teeth in any considerable detail. In 1552 Eustachi, with the help of Pier Matteo Pini, prepared a series of 47 anatomical plates, which (although they were published only in 1714, long after his death) alone assured him a distinguished position in the history of anatomy. He placed anatomy in the service of medicine; much of it was pathological anatomy.

7. Means of Support

Primary: Medicine, Patronage, Academia

Secondary: Government

1540-74, medical practice.

Some time before 1547, Eustachi became physician to the Duke of Urbino. At the time of his death Eustachi had a clock that the Duke had given to him.

1547-74, physician to the duke's brother, Cardinal Giulio della Rovere. He followed Cardinal della Rovere to Rome in 1549 and considered the cardinal his primary patron.

In 1549 he joined the medical faculty of the Sapienza as the equivalent of professor of anatomy. He resigned his chair some years later due to illness.

Eustachi was the Protomedico in Rome.

He was also physician to S. Carlo Borromeo and S. Filippo Neri.

8. Patronage

Types: Court Official, Eccesiastic Official, Aristrocrat

He was in the service of the Duke of Urbino and the duke's brother, Card. della Rovere, for about 30 years.

The Duke of Terranova in Sicily called Eustachi in on the occasion of an illness.

When Eustachi was attacked in polemics, Card. Alciati defended him, and to Card. Alciati Eustachi dedicated De auditus organis, 1562.

He dedicated De renum structura to Card. Borromeo and De dentibus to Card. Amulio.

9. Technological Involvement

Type: Medical Practice

10. Scientific Societies

Membership: Medical College

He was a member of the Medical College of Rome.

He was a friend of Aldrovandi, Coiter, et al. Letters to Aldrovandi survive.

Sources

1. G. Bilancioni, Bartolomeo Eustachi, (Florence, 1913).
2. Pietro Capparoni, Profili bio-bibliografici di medici e naturalisti celebri italiani dal sec. XV al sec. XVII, 2 vols. (Rome, 1925-28), 1, 31-4. In the copy I have, vol. 1 is from the second ed, (1932) and vol. 2 from the first (1928). I gather that pagination in the two editions is not identical.
3. Gaetano Luigi Marini, Degli archiatri pontifici, 2 vols. (Roma, 1784), 1, 417-18.

Not Available and Not Consulted

1. Memorie e documenti riguardanti Bartolomeo Eustachio publicati nel quarto centenario della nascita, (Fabriano, 1913).

Compiled by:

Richard S. Westfall

Department of History and Philosophy of Science

Indiana University