Teatri anatomici di Bologna Parte I:

Il Teatro anatomico dell’Archiginnasio

Abstract

The present paper opens the section of new SISM journal dedicated to the THESA (THEatre Science Anatomy) pro-ject. As stated in the introduction of Luca Borghi, the THE-SA project aims to (re)discover, survey and classify the his-torical anatomical theatres that arose between the sixteenth and mid-twentieth centuries in Italy and Europe. We will pe-riodically publish an article focused on a single theatre, in which we will analayze the history, the configuration and the style of the construction. We will indicate the physicians that worked in it and the laws and traditions that regulated the public anatomy. The first paper is dedicated to Bologna. The analysis of the anatomical theatres of Bologna will be divid-ed in different articles, because many structures were built in seven centuries of anatomy. In this first part, we focus on the anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio, the first official uni-versity seat of Bologna. This theatre will be described in de-tail and the description will be preceded by the history of its building and restorations. We will analayze the social cus-toms and the rituals that regulated the public anatomies be-tween the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The paper aims also to give a comprehensive bibliography of the main stud-ies involving the anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio, providing new imagines by the photograph Rolando Paolo Guerzoni and a collection of historical images.