The Renaissance Hospital: Healing the Body and Healing the Soul

In this fascinating and richly illustrated book, John Henderson takes us into the Renaissance hospitals of Florence, recreating the enormous barn—like wards and exploring the lives of those who received and those who administered treatment there. Drawing on an exceptional range of visual and documentary evidence, Henderson overturns the popular view of the pre—industrial hospital as a hellish destination for the dying poor. To the contrary, hospitals of the era developed specialized, profes...