The Medicine Graduation Room

Still used for doctoral ceremonies, the Medicine Graduation Hall in Palazzo del Bo boasts a centuries-old history.

In the Middle Ages it belonged to the palace of the Papafava da Carrara, a family related to the lords of Padua: of the original structure it still preserves the wooden beam ceiling and fragments of frescoes with leafy weaves and red and green checkers.

From the sixteenth century onwards the room hosts the theoretical lessons of Medicine and the important role that this discipline had for the University of Padua is told through the gallery of portraits on the walls, which show its illustrious protagonists: Andrea Vesalio, father of modern anatomy, Gabriele Falloppia, Johann Georg Wirsung and Giovan Battista Morgagni, founder of pathological anatomy, are just some of the great names who have passed through Padua.

The room is also decorated with two frescoes by the Futurist painter Achille Funi, La Fama che scrive nel libro della Storia il nome di Morgagni (1942) and the Anatomies, where figures of human bodies inspired by those present in the fundamental treatises of Paduan scholars alternate with classical sculptures: a clear homage to Carlo Anti, Rector-archaeologist.

Curious is the presence of a display case containing the skulls of eight professors of the University, collected in the mid-nineteenth century by the doctor Francesco Cortese to corroborate his studies in phrenology.