ABSTRACT
Bone reconstruction with grafts has a long history in medical science and according to folklore goes back to ancient times. The miracle of the twin saints Cosmas and Damian represents the first alleged bone and tissue transplant. The legend tells the hjstory of a pious sexton, who was lying in the Roman Forum exhausted from the pain of bone cancer in his leg. In a dream, the twin brothers came to help him, removed his diseased leg, and transplanted the leg of a Moor who had just died. As the Moor had darker skin than the sexton, this miraculous event has been recorded as "the miracle of the black leg." Owing to the success of the operation, the twin brothers were canonized, and over the years artists have brought many spectacular masterpieces depicting this story to life on canvas (see Fig. I).
