Anatomy Schools and the Beginning of Anatomical Theatres
After dissections moved out of private homes and into universities, they spread throughout Europe. Human dissection became an important part of education.
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Innovative Universities in the Field of Dissection
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Anatomical Theatres
Rather, the opening up of a body was a ritual act, a performance staged for particular audiences within carefully monitored frameworks of legal and religious regulation. The most prominent dissections were staged as public or semi-public performances in specially constructed 'theatres'... -Spectacular Bodies, Martin Kemp and Marina Wallace |
A temporary theater should be built at a large and well-ventilated place, with seats arranged in a circle, as in the Colosseum in Rome, and the Arena in Verona, sufficiently large to accommodate a great number of spectators in such a manner that the teacher would not be inconvenienced by the crowd. Two ushers must be on hand to expel those who have no business there, and two trustworthy custodians to collect the fees which serve for the buying of necessary instruments. The corpse has to be put on a table in the center of the theater in an elevated and clear place easily accessible to the dissector. These should be skilled men who have conducted several dissections. |
Clip from "Galileo" movie showing Padua Anatomy Theatre
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The rise of anatomy theatres allowed even more people to observe dissections and gain knowledge from them. The more people who saw dissections, the more who believed they were essential to the development of anatomy, and the more it spread.
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