September 1, 2024

Uffizi Gallery

7. The Annunciation (Continued)

Saint Luke, who left us one of the four Gospels of the New Testament, "The Gospel of Luke," was a doctor.

Furthermore, he is said to be the first person to paint a portrait of the Madonna and Child (Mary and Jesus).

Therefore, he is considered the patron saint of both doctors and painters.

As such, doctors and painters were professions that worked under the protection of Saint Luke.

During the Renaissance period in the Middle Ages, doctors, pharmacists, and painters belonged to the same guild.

We understand that the close relationship between medicine and art stems from Christianity, but there is other reason as follows:

"Doctors and pharmacists use a mortar for preparing medicines to heal the body.

Painters also use a mortar to create pigments (paints) for painting pictures that heal the heart.

In this respect, doctors and painters are colleagues."

By the way, Saint Luke, who was a doctor, wrote that "the Virgin Mary conceived Jesus while remaining a virgin and she remained a virgin even after giving birth to Jesus."

This is something that modern medicine cannot accept.

Moreover, according to Ambrose, a 4th-century Bishop of Milan, "the Virgin Mary had a ventral gate, which allowed Christ to be safely born despite the fact that her vagina was sealed."

If an ordinary person like me were to say the same thing in the 21st century, it would be laughed off.

However, even in the era when Christianity was spreading, there were people who were skeptical of the "perpetual virginity of Mary."

Particularly, midwives, who had practical experience of delivering babies, knew that "a woman who has given birth cannot possibly be a virgin."

From the 15th to the 16th century, the witch hunts that swept across Europe were especially severe on midwives.

It is understandable, though unfortunate, that midwives who could not wholeheartedly believe in the doctrines of Christianity became targets of these witch hunts.

Here is an excerpt filled with satire on this issue from "The Praise of Folly" by the humanist Erasmus of the Middle Ages:

"Let me ask you, where do humans come from? From the head? The face, the chest? From the so-called superior organs like the hands or ears? No, that's not it.

 Humanity is perpetuated by an utterly ludicrous, laughable, and unspeakable organ."

   Saint Luke is written as "Roka” in Japanese.

St. Luke's International Hospital in Tsukiji reveres Saint Luke as the patron of medicine and operates according to Christian principles.

I will talk about St. Luke's International Hospital in the future section, "Exploring the History of Medicine: Tokyo Edition."