Below is a brief overview of what Cornelius Gemma’s 16th-century eye diagram says in Latin, along with what it labels. Because the original image is an engraving with handwritten Latin that can be hard to read in modern resolution, most of the text consists of anatomical labels (e.g., lens, retina, optic nerve) and short explanatory notes about how vision or optical images form.
Important Note: The engraving itself is public-domain and somewhat stylized/archaic in its Latin spelling. The text you see in the middle or around the edges may be abbreviated or blurred in the reproduction. Below is the best-known modern reading and paraphrase of what scholars usually extract from Cornelius Gemma’s diagram.
Anatomical Labels in Latin
Cornea (tunica cornea)
The transparent “horny” layer at the front of the eye.
In old Latin texts, sometimes written simply as Cornea or Tunica cornea.
Iris / Uvea / Pupilla
The colored part of the eye (Iris or Uvea), and the opening (pupilla) through which light enters.
Lens / Crystallinus humor
The crystalline lens, referred to as the “crystalline humor” (humor crystallinus).
Early anatomists considered it a fluid-like structure—hence the word humor.
Vitreous humor (humor vitreus)
The clear, gel-like substance filling the eyeball behind the lens.
Retina (tunica retina)
Sometimes labeled Retina or Retiformis tunica (the net-like membrane).
Described as the place where the “image” is received.
Optic Nerve (nervus opticus)
Usually labeled N. Opticus or Nervus opticus, leading to the brain.
Sclera (tunica sclera)
The tough white outer coat of the eyeball, also called tunica albuginea in some texts.
Choroid (tunica choroides)
The vascular layer containing blood vessels, often labeled as Chorois or Choroides.
Explanatory Notes (Paraphrased)
Cornelius Gemma’s diagram (from around 1575, in his work sometimes titled De naturae divinis characterismis or similar treatises) often includes short Latin statements describing how images form and travel to the optic nerve. You might see phrases such as:
“Imago in retina invertitur”
The image is inverted on the retina.
“Visus per nervum opticum ad cerebrum defertur”
The sense of sight is carried via the optic nerve to the brain.
“Humor crystallinus obiectum recipit”
The crystalline humor (lens) receives the object (i.e., focuses the image).
Because of printing constraints in the 16th century, these lines can appear around the diagram or in a paragraph near the figure. They typically highlight:
The path of light entering through the cornea and pupil.
Refraction by the crystalline lens (“humor crystallinus”).
Projection of an inverted image onto the retina (often noted as “imago invertitur”).
Transmission of that image via the optic nerve to the “sensorium commune” (common sense or common sensorium in Renaissance/medieval terminology, roughly analogous to the brain’s center of perception).
Typical Latin-to-English Renderings
If you look closely at Gemma’s diagram, you might see phrases like:
“Tunica cornea prima est ...”
“The cornea is the first covering …”
“Humor crystallinus medium locum obtinet ...”
“The crystalline humor occupies the middle place …”
“Ex inversa imagine recta visio ...”
“From the inverted image, (we derive) upright vision …”
These short statements were Cornelius Gemma’s way of illustrating the then-current understanding of how the eye inverts the image before the brain interprets it.
Why the Latin Looks “Different”
Spelling Variations: Renaissance Latin often uses slightly different spellings (e.g., chorois instead of choroides, or cristallinus instead of crystallinus).
Abbreviations and Ligatures: In original engravings, letters like “ſ” (the long ‘s’) or abbreviations like “tuñca” (instead of “tunica”) can be present.
Terminology Overlap: Some terms (e.g., tunica albuginea vs. tunica sclera) can vary by author, and the same structure might have multiple names in the text or labels.
Summary
The Latin text in Cornelius Gemma’s eye diagram is mostly anatomical labeling (cornea, lens, retina, optic nerve, etc.) in Renaissance-era Latin.
Additional notes describe how light and images pass through the eye to be inverted on the retina and then carried via the optic nerve to the brain.
Much of the exact wording can be difficult to read from the modern, low-resolution scan, but standard translations focus on describing the eye’s membranes, the crystalline humor, and the inversion of images in the retina.
So, in simple terms: the Latin labels the main structures of the eye and adds brief commentary about how vision works—particularly the inversion of the image on the retina and its transmission to the brain.
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