Science and Religion in the Anatomical Theatres of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

chapter 6 What Did They See?: Science and Religion in the Anatomical Theatres of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Peter G.F. Eversmann In the anatomical theatres of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and in the public dissections that took place there, the secrets of nature were revealed. The workings of the inner body are in a sense the epitome of mystery and secrecy; hidden from sight but sensed through feeling and propioception. When in early modern times one sought to get direct visual access to the processes going on inside the body, this could only be done by cutting into the outer shell, meaning also that the life itself – the object of investigation one was so curious about – was destroyed or had to be inferred from bodies already dead. No wonder that in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, at a time when modern scientific enquiry began to flourish, public anatomy lessons were enjoying enormous popularity. But the structure of these theatres begs the question of what people actually saw and heard at these events. What was revealed to them? To begin answering that question, this essay will take a closer look at the development of anatomical theatres and the procedures that went on there. In 1595 a permanent anatomical theatre was inaugurated at the university in Padua, where it still exists as part of the Palazzo del Bò.1 Although it is often called the first permanent anatomical theatre, it was preceded by anoth- er permanent structure built twelve years earlier that was announced as a theatrum publicum et perpetuum – a public space destined forever for anatom- ic purposes.2 However, the second theatre is the oldest anatomical theatre that is still preserved, and it should certainly be considered a landmark in so far as it served as a model for anatomical theatres that were built throughout Europe in the three centuries afterwards.3 Around the same time, in 1594, 1 Zampieri F. – et al., “Origin and Development of Modern Medicine at the University of Padua and the Role of the ‘Serenissima’ Republic of Venice”, Global Cardiology Science and Practice (2013) 149–162. 2 Klestinec C., “A History of Anatomy Theaters in Sixteenth-Century Padua”, Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 59, 3 (2004) 389. 3 Del Negro P. – Ongaro G., The University of Padua: Eight Centuries of History (Padua: 2003) 169. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004432260_008 SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN THE ANATOMICAL THEATRES (16TH & 17TH C.) 261 the city of Leiden followed suit and also erected a permanent theatrum anatomicum – again within an academic context.4 I will discuss this theatre later, but for now it suffices to remark that it was not the only structure of its kind in the Low Countries. Rupp counts as many as twelve cities in the seventeenth century that housed anatomical theatres, with Leiden, Delft, and Amsterdam as the most important ones.5 And this is only the Netherlands – for Europe and later on the New World, the list goes on almost endlessly, with anatomical theatres (or plans for them) in every city that saw itself as respect- able. Some of these remain more or less intact and can still be visited. Besides the one in Padua, the theatre in Leiden has been reconstructed in the Museum Boerhave, and a rather beautiful example has survived in Uppsala where it was built on top of the main university building, the Gustavianum, in 1663. From these, but even more so from other visual evidence – drawings, prints, sketches, architectural plans, and the like – it becomes clear that with very few exceptions, these anatomical theatres are all following more or less the same structural principles. They are theatres-in-the-round with the audience almost fully encircling the cutting table. The circular, octagonal, or elliptical auditorium is raked very steeply and only broken by a relatively small entrance by which one gains access to the middle ground where the cutting slab stands, often encircled by a balustrade. Quite commonly, steps on either side of the entrance lead to the upper rows, but in Padua steps at the outside of the structure provide access – emphasizing even more the total surrounding of the body by the audience. As a rule, benches are provided only in the first circle; the rest of the auditorium usually provides only standing places. There are hardly any exceptions to this general pattern – only Bologna is somewhat different. Here, the lavishly decorated anatomical theatre, dating from 1637 to 1649, is rectan- gular rather than circular – although the audience is still seated and standing along all four sides of the room – and much emphasis has been put upon the cathedra of the anatomy professor, serving as a second focal point next to the slab.6 But Bologna does stand out as the exception confirming the standard rule that was established in Padua. 4 Huisman T., The Finger of God: Anatomical Practice in 17th-Century Leiden, Ph.D. dissertation (University of Leiden: 2008) 25–26, gives as the building dates of the Leiden Anatomical Theatre, erected in the Faliedebagijnekerk, December 1591 to the end of 1594 – most probably after the designs of Pieter Pauw. 5 Rupp J.C., “Het theatrum anatomicum: publiekscommunicatief fossiel of ‘archetype’”, Gewina 25, 4 (2002) 191. 6 Ferrari F., “Public Anatomy Lessons and the Carnival: The Anatomy Theatre of Bologna”, Past and Present 117 (1987) 74–82..

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