# History of Monsters. 409

V. A Two-Faced Monster

In the territory of Verona in the year 1508, a child was born to a most devout woman. This infant possessed a double face but was otherwise complete in its other limbs, except for having two heads.

Lycosthenes records that in the Veronese countryside in the year 1519, the monstrous fetus you see illustrated here was born to a woman of the highest integrity. This child bore two faces upon a single head. The face on the front was flat and unobstructed, while the face on the back of the head lacked ears. It had four arms joined at the elbows and eight fingers on each hand. The lower part of the body from the navel down appeared normal, yet there were only two feet, and on these, only four toes could be distinguished.

Girolamo Cardano relates that in the year 1591, in the city of Milan, he saw a monster formed in this fashion. It was a two-headed fetus with faces turned away from one another, four arms, and as many legs. These four legs descended from the same trunk and were joined in pairs in a monstrous manner. However, others claim that the one depicted here was actually born in the Veronese territory in 1519.

VII. Another Two-Headed Monster

In the territory of Verona in the year 1514, a two-headed fetus was born which similarly possessed four hands and as many feet.

Paolo Giovio also mentions this monster born in the Veronese countryside, stating that in 1514, a two-headed boy was born whose body was fused into a single frame. From a single navel upward, it divided into two chests, each bearing a head. It had four arms and four hands, as well as four feet—two positioned above and two below. On one side near the navel were male genitals, and on the other, female.

VIII.

Another two-headed monster, whose body was joined in the usual place, is described by Albertus and compared to the one born in Verona in 1514, which moved everyone to such great wonder,