Book excerpt: Medicine's Michelangelo: The Life & Art of Frank H. Netter, MD, is the first biography of this illustrious figure, who is revered by generations of students of medicine. Netter was the son of working class immigrants who owned a stationery store inthe theater district of New York. In his youth, all he ever wanted to do was to paint, but his mother wanted him to do "something 'respectable' like being a doctor or an engineer." He finished an internship in medicine and surgery at Bellevue Hospital, but found that there was more demand for his sable brush than for his scalpel, and for the next fifty years devoted himselffull time to making medical illustrations. He moved into both the glamorous New York art world and intellectual medical circles. He lived in opulent homes on Long Island and in Palm Beach, lunched at the Society of Illustrators with the likes of Norman Rockwell and Rube Goldberg, and at the great teaching hospitals consulted with hundreds of medical experts, among them Drs. Michael DeBakey, C. Everett Koop, Albert Sabin, and Paul Dudley White.Frank Netter single-handedly documented the great medical advances of the 20th century. Francine Mary Netter captures the character of the man, relying on her remembrances; her father's autobiographical notes, personal correspondence, and private files; publications of his work; public archives; and more than 100 interviews with family members, artists, distinguished practitioners, and scientists. Medicine's Michelangelo reveals the man behind the art.