Jean Riolan the Younger

Jean Riolan the Younger was a French anatomist and an influential member of the Medical Faculty of Paris, born in the late sixteenth century. His father, Jean Riolan the Elder, was also a noted French anatomist. Riolan served as personal physician to Marie de' Medici for the whole of his life. He is remembered for his traditional views on medicine and as a leading defender of the teachings of Galen, and he held a different view from his contemporary William Harvey on the circulation of the blood. Two structures carry his name: the anastomosis of Riolan, a connection between the superior and inferior mesenteric arteries, and Riolan's muscle of the eyelid.