Timeline: Mondino de Luzzi (sometimes dei Lucci or de Liuzzi) aka Mundinus, c. 1265–1326

Mundinus (c. 1265–1326) is considered the reviver of anatomy. The practice of human dissection had been abandoned in Europe for centuries, mostly due to opposition from the Catholic Church.

Though Mundinus is often considered the first to have performed dissections in modern times, there is some dispute about this. The reason for the dispute is in part due to the use of the word "performed." Some sources say Mundinus actually performed dissections at public lectures, others say that his practice was to read from a text (e.g., Galen's) while a barber-surgeon performed the dissection and a demonstrator pointed out the parts.

Mundinus did, however, systematize dissection, and his work, Anathomia (or De Anatome), which was published in 1316, was widely used in European medical schools for over 300 years. Particularly of note is that his anatomy of the heart is remarkably accurate, and contains the rudimentary details of blood circulation. (The discovery of blood circulation is dated to 1628, and attributed to William Harvey.) However the book did contain errors. Further, since Mundinus was held in such high regard, if something was found during a later dissection that had not been described by him in Anathomia, it was considered an anomaly.

Mundinus was born in Italy, and taught at Bologna's esteemed medical school, which was the principle home of scholastic medicine in Europe, as early as the 12th century.

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