Waxing Poetic: Anna Morandi Manzolini's Anatomical Sculptures

Virtual anatomy, histology and embryology in research and education

“…Anna Morandi once explained 'whatever object presents itself to the hand for examination of its tangible qualities, nature immediately permits the hand, of all the anatomical members the most capable and sincere judge, to evaluate it' (Messbarger, 2001). The In addition to the task of learning anatomy, histology and embryology, we should also remember that the differing techniques we use in anatomy, histology and embryology often provide strengths and additional proficiencies in other areas such as ethical qualities, teamwork and professional and communication skills (Ghosh, 2017;Moore, 1998).…”

“…Anna Morandi once explained ‘whatever object presents itself to the hand for examination of its tangible qualities, nature immediately permits the hand, of all the anatomical members the most capable and sincere judge, to evaluate it’ (Messbarger, 2001). The fifth paper in this special issue brought the specimens to the hand by bringing the laboratory into the home.…”

Commodified Cadavers and the Political Economy of the Spectacle1

“…The dissection itself provided an opportunity for posthumous punishment sanctioned by state and Church authorities, a form of punishment that mirrored the divine punishment to be meted out by God. The wax replicas, enshrined in museums, thus memorialized the moral lesson of just punishment for criminal or immoral action (Messbarger 2001; Cuir 2006; Stephens 2007). 6…”

Interdisciplinarity and Patient Engagement: New Representations of Cardiovascular Anatomy

“…Entire books have been dedicated to the subject of the heart’s significance and many meanings across cultures and religions, notably Louisa Young’s The book of the heart , to which we will refer again later in the article [ 1 ]. A vast body of literature and iconography is dedicated to the cardiovascular system, from ancient Egyptian [ 2 ] and Persian [ 3 ] societies’ representations and cardiovascular symptoms appearing in Dante’s Divine Comedy [ 4 ], to seminal books such as Giovanni Battista Morgagni’s De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis [ 5 ] and the wax sculptures created by XVIII century female anatomist Anna Morandi Manzolini at the University of Bologna [ 6 ]. Unparalleled anatomical representations of the heart and structures are of course those created by Leonardo da Vinci, including sketches of the coronary vasculature, the cusps of the aortic valve and the sinuses of the aortic root, as well as depictions of phenomena such as vortex formation between the aortic valve cusp and the sinus wall, anticipating hydrodynamic insight into aortic valve closure by nearly four centuries [ 7 ].…”