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The summer school explores how the representation of the body and its functions changed from antiquity to the early modern period and how technology alters the perception of what we are as human animals.

By adopting three of the most iconic analogies ever used in the history of medicine to represent the human body, The Kiln, the Alembic, and the Clockwork illustrates the early modern imagery of the body in connection to different methods of investigation and their overlapping with disciplines such as alchemy and astronomy.

Particular attention is devoted to the process of combination and concoction of humours (the kiln), distillation and perspiration (the alembic) and the mechanical action of innate heat (the clockwork).

Each analogy is considered in relation to the impact it exerted on the Renaissance and early modern understanding of human physiology.

The summer school is open to students and scholars at all stages of their career. Sources and papers are pre-circulated in order for attendees to engage fruitfully in conversation with speakers in a roundtable at the end of the day. Small presentations (no longer than 5-7 min each) are also welcome.