AbstractFrom the beginning of the 17th century medical book‐illustration and representation of medical science are not any longer separable. Most of the modern didactic functions, especially concerning medical text‐books or manuals begin to develop at that time, certainly in a tight connection with the strong revaluation of the text‐illustration in general by the pedagogical realism since J. A. Comenius. The article tries to show some of the main contemporary functions of medical illustration in the 17th century as well as functions seen from the modern point of view of history of sc