Anatomical Theatres
Image 1. Title page of Andreas Vesalius, De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (Basel: J. Oporinus, 1555).
Source: Wellcome Library, London
Commentary: This image, from the title page of the most famous anatomical treatise of all time, depicts the learned anatomist at work with his own hands, rather than delegating this manual labour to a barber surgeon. The size of the crowd around him illustrates the difficulty of obtaining a close view of dissections, which led to the development of anatomy theatres.
Images 2-4. Anatomical Theatre, University of Padua
Commentary: The first anatomy theatre was opened in Padua in 1595 in the Palazzo Bò. The theatre was impressive and many universities followed suit in creating their own. The theatre was inaugurated by Girolamo Fabricius ab Aquapendente, the professor of medicine at the time and the teacher of William Harvey. However, it seems that Fabricius did not perform many dissections himself, most of them being performed by his assistant Giulio Casseri. The anatomical theatre was not precisely fit for the purpose of teaching students: they were confined only to the upper ranks, which were too far for them to see the anatomical structures. In Bologna, the students had to wait until the end of the session before they could approach the dissection table, take a closer look or even feel the different parts with their hands. So, in practice, many students were trained by means of private dissections often performed at the anatomist's home or in pharmacies. See Stolberg (2018).
Image 2. Contemporary depiction
Source: Giacomo Filippo Tomasini, Gymnasium Patavium (Udine, 1654).
Image 3. Scale model.
Description: Scale model in the Science Museum, London, of the anatomy theatre built at Padua in 1595, showing dissection taking place.
Source: Wellcome Library, London: Wellcome Images, ref. no. Science Museum A625521. Licence CC BY 4.0. From https://wellcomeimages.org/.
Image 4. Title page of Bartolomeo Eustachi, Tabulae anatomicae ... quas e tenebris tandem vindicatas (Rome: Francisci Gonzagae, 1714), title page.
Description: Interior view of an anatomical theater in which a dissection is in progress; a surgeon is examining the cadaver; several men are sitting, and a few are standing, observing the proceedings. A skeleton stands to the left.
Source: National Library of Medicine, Washington D.C., ID no. 101435432; permanent Link: http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101435432.
Image 5. Anatomy theatre, Leiden University.
Source: Johannes Meursius, Athenae batavae (Leiden: Elzevier, 1625), 34.