History of plastic surgery: art, philosophy, and rhinoplasty

The two-hundredth anniversary of K. F. Graefe's "Rhinoplasty", E. Zeis' naming of the specialty of plastic surgery in 1838, and the continuing discussion on what is plastic surgery have prompted this historical-conceptual review with an analytic semantic insight into the meaning of the word "plastic". A literature search has revealed that this term has a dual content composed of an artistic and a philosophic aspect. Progressive development of these two connotations can be traced from their birth in the ceramics and myths of the ancient Greece to their metamorphoses in the fine arts, science, and plasticity philosophy of our days.