Museo di Anatomia – Sistema dei Musei e Orto Botanico dell’Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia

The origins of the Museo Anatomico di Modena are linked to the support of Archduke Francesco IV d’Austria-Este, thanks to whom it was possible to enlarge the spaces devoted to the teaching of medical disciplines. Above the Anatomical Theatre (1775) an additional story was built, where the Museo di Anatomia was created in order to provide an appropriate setting for the growing number of anatomical preparations produced during lectures. In 1822 the first room was completed, followed by a second in 1839 and a third in 1840. In 1852, with the support of Archduke Francesco V, the fourth room was finished, and in 1854 the museum—still preserving its original furnishings—was inaugurated. Enriched until 1926, largely through the work of the anatomical directors Paolo Gaddi (director from 1840 to 1871) and Giuseppe Sperino (director from 1898 to 1926), the museum now counts more than one thousand preparations. From 1977 until 2012, the year in which it was closed following the seismic events that struck the city of Modena, the exhibits were displayed according to the principles of descriptive anatomy, that is, organized by systems of the body. Most of the holdings consist of dried, mummified, or formalin-fixed specimens, but there are also fine wax and plaster models. Of particular interest are the anatomical waxes made in the second half of the nineteenth century by ceroplast Remigio Lei, the eighteenth-century painted terracottas depicting the different stages of pregnancy and childbirth, and the two collections of crania.