Art In Science: The Stage of the Human Body—The Anatomical Theatre of Bologna

Excerpt

A Note from the Column Editor,

Di Matteo and colleagues from the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute in Bologna, Italy share with us another extraordinary example of how medicine evolved in partnership with art. The University of Bologna is considered the oldest academic institution in the Western world, so it is no surprise that many of the finest examples of the evolution of scientific investigation and teaching originated in the expansive beauty of the Archiginnasio of Bologna. As Di Matteo and colleagues explain, this was the ancient stage upon which students observed the performances of teaching anatomy. It is serendipitous that this beautiful description of the 16 ^th century anatomy theatre follows our discussion of The Gross Clinic by American artist Thomas Eakins in the 19 ^th century [ 4 ], an example of the surgical theatre. This is an opportunity to compare the high drama carried out on these two stages, theatres set 300 years apart, both venues designed to be practical places for transmitting medical knowledge while also celebrating and aggrandizing the performances. Bravo!

— Gary E. Friedlaender MD, Linda K. Friedlaender BA, MS

Physicians are inherently captivated by human anatomy. It is in our very nature to seek out answers that can help unlock the human body’s most hidden secrets. The journey to discovery generally begins in medical school, where the study of the human anatomy was once considered a cornerstone of medical education. The topic has been, to some degree, de-emphasized through the years in order to make time for other priorities in a fast-paced, modern curriculum. The ways in which medical educators teach the subject is also evolving. Traditional dissection-based approaches have given way to more modern and practical teaching modalities such as self-directed, problem-based, and computer-assisted learning [9]. Although the days of watching live dissections are far from numbered, perhaps we will no longer need the “stage,” equipped to accommodate a large number of eager students witnessing the “performance.” …