Category: Anatomical models

Switzerland | Basel

About

The Anatomical Museum in Basel is part of the Faculty of Medicine. It is a centre for research and medical studies and houses a unique collection of historical preparations. Original preparations of human body parts, organs and tissue are displayed, which show the structure of the human body in a systematic and topographic way. Exhibits of prenatal development are also shown. Special exhibitions explain specific areas of anatomy and connected sciences in a way, which is understandable for all visitors. The Anatomical Museum of the University of Basel was founded by Prof. Carl Gustav Jung in 1824. Original preparations of human body parts, organs and tissue are displayed in the museum. They are shown in a systematic and topographic order and describe the structure of the human body. Exhibits of prenatal development are also shown. Special exhibitions explain specific areas of anatomy in a way, which is understandable for all visitors. The museum houses contemporary exhibits as well as numerous historically valuable preparations, which were restored using modern techniques and are now shown in new displays. Of particular interest is the skeleton, which was prepared by Andreas Vesale in 1543 in Basel. It is known as the oldest anatomical preparation of a skeleton in the world. Also of interest is a preparation made in 1573 by Felix Platter, wax models made in 1850 by Carl Gustav Jung and body cross-sections (slices) made in 1900 by Hanson Kelly Corning.

Relevant People:

Prof. Carl Gustav Jung

Netherlands | Amsterdam

About

The C. U. Ari¨ens Kappers brain collection, at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam, is one of the largest and oldest of the world’s catalogued repositories of specimens that reveal the course of brain evolution and the resulting panoply of neural biodiversity. Established a century ago, it has served since then as the basis of the encyclopedic texts authored by its founder, as well as research publications into the current time. It consists of 726 specimens: these include 309 mammals, 134 birds, 81 reptiles, 21 amphibians, and 179 “pisces”—a grouping of bony fish, sharks, and cyclostomes. Housed in the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, the collection is the result of a life time’s labor by Cornelius Ubbo Ariëns Kappers during his directorship (1909-1946) of the institute and contains representatives of over 300 species of vertebrates, including man.

Relevant People:

C. U. Ari¨ens Kapper

Netherlands | Amsterdam

About

Museum Vrolik is the anatomical museum of the University of Amsterdam/Academic Medical Center. It was founded as a private collection by anatomist Gerard Vrolik (1775-1859) en his son Willem (1801-1863). The collection comprises around 15.000 anatomical preparations of both man and animals, normal, pathological and malformations, skulls, skeletons, bones, dried organs, preparations in liquid, microscopic slides, instruments. The historical core collection of the museum (brougt together between 1750 and 1950 includes specimens of neuroanatomy: topographical and regional anatomy of the brain & development of the fetal brain (both late 19th century and early 20th century), largely collected by anatomist Lodewijk Bolk; it also includes specimens of neural tube defects and other neurananatomical malformations (early 19th century & early 20th century)(mainly collected by father and son Vrolik and Lodewijk Bolk; finally it includes a small collection of comparative neuroanatomy (brains of different animals (early 19th century-early 20th century) Since 2016 we are the owner of the historical collection of comparative neuroanatomy of the Dutch National Brain Institute. This collection consists of both specimens in liquid and microscopic slides, collected between 1909 and 1940 (By neuroanatomist C.U. Ariens Kappers) Since 2017 we are the owner of the historical collection of comparative anatomy and zoology of the faculty of sciences (University of Amsterdam); this collection includes specimens of comparative neuroanatomy (brains of animals) collected between the 1880s and the 1940s, for a large part by zoologist Max Weber.

Relevant People:

Gerard Vrolik, Wilhem Vrolik, Lodewijk Bolk

Russia | Moscow

About

The Museum of Brain Evolution is the only exhibit in Russia and CIS dedicated to the evolution of the brain. It was opened in 1928 as a part of Neurological Scientific Centre in Moscow. Its collections include phylogeny of the nervous system, ontogeny of the human brain and brain anatomy. The Phylogeny of the nervous system collection features over 300 items (from coelenterates to primates). The exhibits of the museum serve as an initial introduction to the structure, development, functions and mechanism of animal and human nervous systems. It also provides an in-depth study of the general and specific issues of neurophysiology. The Museum of Brain Evolution offers a course of lectures on neurophysiology and related topics.

Relevant People:

Switzerland | Geneva

About

The University of Geneva brain collection was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, it consists of 10,154 formaldehyde- or buffered formaldehyde–fixed brains obtained from the autopsies of the Department of Psychiatry and, since 1971, from the Department of Geriatrics. More than 100,000 paraffin-embedded blocks and 200,000 histological slides have also been collected since 1901. From the time of its creation, this collection has served as an important resource for pathological studies and clinicopathological correlations, primarily in the field of dementing illnesses and brain aging research. These materials have permitted a number of original neuropathological observations, such as the classification of Pick’s disease by Constantinidis, or the description of dyshoric angiopathy and laminar sclerosis by Morel. The large number of cases, including some very rare conditions, provides a unique resource and an opportunity for worldwide collaborations.

Relevant People:

Italy | Firenze

About

La specola contains a vast collection of anatomical wax models; there are 10 rooms dedicated to wax models. Biomedica has both anatomical and pathological museum sections. They are a sub-museum of Museo di Storia Naturale which is a part of the Università Degli Studi di Firenze in Florence. It is divided into eight sections located in various parts of Florence: Anthropology and Ethnology, Biomedical, Botany, Chemistry, Geology and Paleontology, Mineralogy, Botanical Garden, Zoology.

Relevant People:

Italy | Cagliari

About

Our story begins in the Medicine and Surgery Faculty School of Anatomy of the University of Cagliari in 1801. The wax anatomical models explore the past of Sardinia and the history of the Italian States as well as Europe in 18-19th centuries. Cagliari’s anatomical wax model collection provides a perfect description of the human body and medical and surgical knowledge at the time the models were produced. The Cagliari models are considered artistic masterpieces. The website includes an interactive collection of anatomical tables.

Relevant People:

Italy | Turin

About

The collections include anatomical specimens (more than 800 human skulls, 10 skeleton, many brains in liquid), drawings, photographs, examples of material evidence, written documents, and valuable craft and artistic works created by asylum and prison inmates.

Relevant People:

Cesare Lombroso

Italy | Balogna

About

The University’s Museum Network – Sistema Museale di Ateneo – includes many collections dating back to the 18th Century closely related to the Istituto delle Scienze: even if the “Camera della Notomia” (Anatomy Room) was there established in 1747 providing teaching material to physicians and anatomists, the institute’s anatomical room was projected by Ercole Lelli (1702-1766) in 1742. Ercole Lelli, “figure director” at the Accademia Clementina di Belle Arti started the anatomical ceroplastic school in Bologna. Starting in 1776, Anna Morandi (1714-1774) and her husband Giovanni Manzolini (1700-1755), wax modelers, made important contributions to the Anatomy Room of the Institute. Their production illustrates the enormous scientific progress that had been achieved in wax modelling and anatomical portrayal that led the study and reproduction of sensory organs and other physiological systems. Anna Morandi depicted herself in a self-portrait, while intently examining a cerebral structure. The work of Luigi Galvani (1737-1798)at the institute, and the experiments he conducted, led him to surmise that the power that caused the contraction of fibers, stimulated through electric fluid, lay in nerves rather than muscles. In 1791 he published the “De viribus” where he proved that animals – and thus humans – have a unique electrical property: the brain is the most important organ secreting “electric fluid”; the nerves are the organs that have the greatest affinity with this unique electricity. Thereafter, Luigi Calori (1807-1896) began his career as Professor of Human Anatomy becoming President of the Academy of Sciences. Thanks to the ceroplastic artist Cesare Bettini (1801-1805), he realized some of the most important models concerning the brain structure as the wax models collection of encephalon and the eye compounds. All the materials connected with this period of intense anatomical studies are still preserved in the Museums and Collections of the Sistema Museale di Ateneo.

Relevant People:

Ercole Lelli | Luigi Galvani

France | Paris

About

This museum has displays of anatomical malformations, consisting of a large collection of specimens and wax models from the 17th century. The museum also has brains studied by the great Paul Pierre Broca. It was named after anatomist and surgical professor Guillaume Dupuytren. In 2016, the Dupuytren museum collections were transferred to the Jussieu campus, joining eight of UPMC’s scientific collections. The collections are installed in reserves and are not accessible to the public. They are open to research projects and notwithstanding students by appointment.

Relevant People:

Paul Pierre Broca