Milo Manara's mural at the Institute of Human Anatomy

To celebrate the centenary of the Paduan Anatomical Institute (1922 – 2022), during the celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the University of Padua, the atrium of the Institute of Human Anatomy was enriched by a work by the artist Milo Manara.

The Chair of Anatomy of Padova boasts a long and prestigious tradition, enriched by the contribution of some of the most famous anatomists in the history of medicine, from Bruno da Longobucco to Andrea Vesalio up to Giovan Battista Morgagni. This legacy was taken up by the anatomical institutes built in 1922 to a design by Fondelli, near the Giustinianeo hospital, which still today constitute a fundamental resource for anatomical research and training. Inside the Institute of Human Anatomy is the Fallopian Hall, a magnificent anatomical theater that, despite its historical value, continues to be the campus of the morphological practice par excellence: the dissection of the corpse.

The three walls of the stairwell of the Institute of Human Anatomy in via Falloppio 50 in Padova, for a total of about 225 square meters distributed along three ramps and accompanied by the ceiling, were decorated with the Tattoo Wall technique, which transfers digital inks from a support to a wall surface.

The mural develops from bottom to top as a symbol of the death-life continuum, interpreted as a combination of knowledge and care. The first wall leads from the area of the autopsy rooms, a place of knowledge, to the classroom floor. The second leads to laboratories, spaces where research takes shape and new knowledge is generated. Finally, the upper ramp leads to the ceiling, where organ donation is depicted, a gesture that expands the possibilities of treatment.

On the ceiling, in a reinterpretation of the sky of Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel, a primordial Adam and Eve appear, from which life begins cyclically after death.

On the first wall is depicted in an allegorical key the wonderful phrase "MORS UBI GAUDET SUCCURRERE VITAE" which refers to the ancient anatomical theater of the University of Padua, where, studying the bodies of the dead, one learned to heal the living.

On the second wall, Manara took his cue from the frontispiece of Andrea Vesalio's sixteenth-century book, De humani corporis Fabrica. Some of the University's most important teachers over the centuries, such as Eustace and Fallopius, have been added to the image, coming to contemporaries. The third wall shows how the University today more than ever is committed to training new doctors, starting from its ancient heart, the anatomical theater. All this ideally projects humanity towards a hypothetical eternity, metaphysically illustrated on the ceiling, which, remaining in the ancient tradition, reproduces the starry vault, even if updated by the vision of modern telescopes.

Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771), professor of anatomy, is the founder of contemporary pathological anatomy. "It is not possible to prostate the nature and causes of any disease without the confirmation of cadaveric sections." In his production and course unit he refers to the Vitruvian man, putting man at the center with reference to the foundations of architecture for the training of the doctor.

Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666 – 1723) physician, anatomist and surgeon, favourite pupil of Marcello Malpighi, was the teacher of the famous Giovanni Battista Morgagni. At the Archiginnasio in Bologna he graduated "magna cum laude" with a dissertation entitled "On the superiority of experimental doctrine". Valsalva realized that the studies of the time led only to the image of truth: in order to search for the symptoms of diseases, their course and the effectiveness of therapy, it was not enough to carefully examine the sick, but it was necessary to study the alterations of the diseased parts on the corpses.

Bartolomeo Eustachio (between 1500 and 1510 – 1574), anatomist. He keenly investigated corpses to understand diseases. His most famous work is the Tabulae Anatomicae of 1552, which earned him the title of "Prince of Anatomy".

Gabriele Falloppio (1523 – 1562), in 1551 accepted from the University of Padua the chairs of anatomy, surgery and botany. His illustrious pupils were Girolamo Fabrici d'Acquapendente, Marcello Capra, Antonio Minutoli and Volcher Koyter. He was the author of admirable anatomical discoveries, with fundamental contributions in osteology, myology, and splanchnology. In addition to being one of the most important scientists in the history of anatomy, he also made important contributions in comparative anatomy, botany, physiology, pharmacology, and spa medicine.

Andrea Vesalio (1514-1564) is the founder of modern anatomy; First, it postulates the need for an overall rewriting of the description of the human body and its parts, achieved through the assiduous practice of dissecting cadavers and an accurate critique of the sources of ancient knowledge. He wrote the seminal book De Humani Corporis Fabbrica for medicine. Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) dedicated about twenty years of his life to the study of the human body, divided into three periods: between 1480 and 1490, in Milan, he deepened his muscles and bones; between 1502 and 1507, in Florence, the mechanics of the body; from 1508 to 1513, between Milan and Rome, he analyzed the internal organs and blood circulation. He was the inventor of the anatomical illustration and the exploded image, an illustrative method still used today.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564), his drawings show the anatomical interest of the master which translates, for example, into muscle fibers outlined in detail. In his writings, the artist often referred to the human body as a "mortal veil with divine intentions": anatomy becomes an instrument of knowledge aimed at representing the body in its perfect form. It is an anatomy based on empirical knowledge, the result of the dissections of cadavers.