The legendary illustrator of medical literature passed away

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Source: Medical Tribune 18/2010 16.08.

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Author: Professor MUDr. Miloš Grim, DrSc., Head of the Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague

 

On 17 July 2010, the academic painter Milan Med died at the age of 80. Between 1960 and 1990 he worked as a painter and illustrator of medical literature and an art collaborator of prof. Borovanský and prof. Čihák (both former heads of the Institute of Anatomy) at the Institute of Anatomy of the First Faculty of Medicine. Milan Med studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1949 to 1954 and 1956 to 1957), where he was one of the last students of Professor Vratislav Nechleba, rector of the Academy of Fine Arts. From 1975 to 1978, he studied the theoretical and preclinical fields of the Faculty of Medicine (FVL UK) and achieved both: being an artist and an anatomist who knows the subject of his drawing.

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He also focused on anatomy as a scientific discipline. He focused on the development of the shape of the human vertebral joints and the development of the shape of the spine as a whole. Milan Med lectured and published the results of his observations in a lot of scientific articles. His scientific drawings, as well as the documentation of the publications of the staff of the Institute of Anatomy and other institutes and clinics of the Medical Faculty, are extraordinary accurate. They have a very didactic character and emphasize the function of the displayed structures.

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The reproduced illustration from Med's 1982 publication shows how the orientation of the paired flats in the lumbar intervertebral joints evolves in connection with the evolution of spine curvature. In the lordotic lumbar spine of an adult, the joints divergate dorsally, while in the kyphotic fetal spine, ventral. The common axis of their rotation is in the front of the fetus, whereas the rear of the adults.

Milan Med also dealt with medical heraldry and published his findings in the Acta Universitatis Carolinae Historica.  He reconstructed the old seal of the Faculty of Medicine, which has not been preserved, and its motive, St. Cosmos and Damian, the patrons of doctors, later used for the emblem of the Czech Medical Chamber. Based on the study of historical documents, he also created a new emblem of the then Faculty of General Medicine with the motif of a pelican with the young ones, which is the base of th current emblem of the 1st and 2nd Faculty of Medicine.

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The freestyle artwork of Milan Med represents a significant contribution to figural drawing and painting in our country. It is dominated by movement sketches and figural compositions especially from the ballet and gymnastics environment. Also important is Med's portrait work. For the Institute of Anatomy library, he painted portraits of former chiefs, while he later completed by the reconstruction of Jan Jessenius's appearance. Med's paintings were presented at many domestic and foreign exhibitions and are part of a number of important collections and galleries.

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A noble man, with a wide range of interests a distinguished colleague and a prominent figure in Czech medical illustration passed away. He will always be commemorated by generations of doctors who have studied from the books he illustrated. May he rest in peace.