First hand from Florence
The first hand from Florence or the oldest Florentine hand is a passive right hand prosthesis from the second half of the 15th century and thus the oldest known iron hand . Together with several other hand and arm prostheses from the Renaissance period , it is exhibited today in the Museo Stibbert in Florence (inventory number 3817).
construction
The fingers (except for the thumb) are grouped together in a movable block in the base joint . So they cannot be moved individually, but only together, while the thumb is immobile. All fingers are three-dimensional and have suggested fingernails .
The internal mechanism is by means of a Phillips screw fastened to the hand surface. It is unclear whether this is an original part or a later addition.
The finger block can be bent passively - i.e. with the healthy hand or by propping it up - and locked in four stages. When a button protruding near the carpal bone is pressed , the finger block jumps back into its extended starting position by spring force . In the centuries that followed, hardly anything changed in this basic design principle with a pawl and leaf springs .
The hand prosthesis was probably attached to the amputation stump , like later Iron Hands, by means of a (not preserved) arm cuff made of metal or wood . At the proximal end of the hand are for mounting such a face-plate four holes.
The prosthesis has a relatively high weight of 840 g, also compared to other iron hands. However, it appears to have been used regularly.
origin
There is no evidence of the origin of these or other Iron Hands exhibited in the Stibbert Museum. Frederick Stibbert (1836–1906) acquired pieces from all over the world for his collection. The vast majority of the Iron Hands, however, come from Central Europe .
literature
- Vittorio Putti: Historical Prostheses. In: Journal of Hand Surgery. Vol. 30, No. 3, Edinburgh 2005, ISSN 0266-7681 , pp. 310-325.
- Liebhard Löffler: The substitute for the upper extremity: the development from the first evidence to the present day. Enke, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-432-94591-4 .