ST URBAIN, Ferdinand de: Italy, 1693, Bronze, 36 mm
Obv: Bust of Malpighi (l)    MARCELLVS. MALPIGHIVS. BONON. PHIL. ET. MED. COLLEG.
Rev: On a large block, a draped female, Science, reclining supporting herself on a pile of books while examining some plants with a magnifying glass. On face of block is a large bee. The block is inscribed: STAT SOLIDO Around: TVTISSIMO. LVMINE. EXHIBITO
Exergue:  M DCXCIII
Signed:  S.V.
Ref: Forrer V, p. 312 # 90; Freeman 166/336; Storer 2305; Brettauer 733; Faludi 316; Kluyskens, II, p. 183, 2; Wurzback 5893

Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694) was an Italian physician and anatomist who has been described as a founder of comparative physiology and microscopic anatomy and the first histologist. Malpighi entered the University at Bologna, graduating in medicine and philosophy. Later he worked at the University of Piza, then at Messina and later returned to Bologna. In 1691 he accepted the invitation of Pope Innocent XII to come to Rome as his personal physician.

Malpighi was the first to apply the newly invented microscope to anatomical research. His first great observation was the capillary circulation of blood, thus expanding on William Harvey’s theory on how blood circulated in the body. By demonstrating the existence of capillaries, he provided evidence for the link between arteries and veins that had eluded Harvey. Many microscopic anatomical structures are named after him, including a skin layer (Malpighi layer) and two different Malpighian corpuscles in the kidneys and the spleen, as well as the Malpighian tubules in the excretory system of insects. Some of these studies he made by vivisection.

Malpighi was also a pioneer in the science of embryology where he studied chick embryo development, producing detailed drawings of the process. In addition, he discovered taste buds of human tongue and studied the anatomy of the brain, although his conclusion that brain is a gland has proved incorrect. He was also the first to discover and study human fingerprints.

In addition to his anatomical studies in animals, Malpighi was one of the rare contemporary scholars who investigated the anatomy of plants, and he made important discoveries in this area as well. He published his findings in a book Anatomia Plantarum in 1671. It was the most exhaustive study of botany at the time. The Royal Society published it the next year. It was this seminal work on plant physiology that this medal commemorates. (Taken from Freeman and Wikipedia)