Eustachi first studied and then taught anatomy at the medical faculty in Rome. He is considered to be the most scientific anatomist of the Renaissance. Although well known for his published writings during his lifetime, he is remembered principally for the series of anatomical plates of skeletons and muscles published one hundred and forty years after his death. The plates, drawn by Pietro Matteo Pini, and engraved by Giulio de' Musi under Eustachi's supervision, were completed by 1552. However, only eight of the forty-seven plates were published during Eustachi's lifetime. On his death the plates remained with his family. They were eventually acquired by the Vatican library, and through the efforts of the papal physician, Giovanni Maria Lancisi, were published at Rome in 1714. As Eustachi's text to the plates was either never completed or was lost, commentary was provided by Lancisi and later editors. Other editions of the eighteenth century were printed from the original copper plates, others from re-engravings, notably the Roman edition of 1728, and the Leiden edition of 1744, edited by Bernard Siegfried Albinus. Eustachi was critical of Vesalius's illustrations. Whereas Vesalius had chosen woodcuts with their strong contrasts, Eustachi preferred engravings, which provided a more delicate delineation of detail. In contrast to Vesalius's, Eustachi's elegant figures are undramatic, and have no background. His plates are remarkable for the anatomical knowledge they contain, gained from the study of many cadavers. They begin with the abdominal structure, then the thorax, the nervous system, the vascular system, the muscles, and finally the bones. Each plate has a graduated border which provides grid references to connect text with illustration. The illustrations, therefore, are clearer, unencumbered by superimposed lettering or numbering. The plates in Albinus's edition of 1744 are accompanied by outline figures on which reference letters and numbers are placed. Eustachi also found fault with Vesalius's anatomy of the auditory organs, and published a much more accurate account of the auditory tube, which was named after him. He also wrote a treatise on the kidneys, entitled De renum structura, officio & administratione, first published in his Opera anatomica (Venice, 1564), which demonstrated a detailed knowledge of the kidney superior to that of earlier works. He was also the first to make a detailed study of dentition in his De dentibus (1563).
