1597

Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) publishes De Curtorum Chirugia per Insitionem [On the Surgical Restoration of Defects by Grafting], first book on reconstructive surgery, including description of use of pedicle grafts to repair amputated noses, along with repair of mutilated lips and ears. Like Fioravanti, he compared surgery, especially skin grafts, to the cultivation of trees (Graddock, 40-41). But rhinoplasty faded after his death in 1599 (Grogono,186); Harold Gillies was not familiar with his work. In anticipation of criticism that surgical grafting involved playing God, Tagliacozzi spent first 10 chapters of the book extolling the dignity of the face, and the importance of the lips, ears, and nose in the composition of the face. Skin grafting thereby became a restorative operation. Helping people reclaim their natural proportions (Craddock, 46-47).