Trascrizione
Since 1400, in Padua the dissection of a corpse - that is, the study of a cadaver by doctors - was a spectacle that the whole University attended. It could last up to a week and attracted students, professors, men of the Church, and even an orchestra!
It took place here, in the Anatomical Theatre of Palazzo Bo, built in 1594; it is the oldest stable structure of this type in the world. It is shaped like a six-story high ice cream cone, and could accommodate up to 250 people.
It seems that the original table on which the corpse was laid was foldable, to allow comparisons to be made between human remains, on the one hand, and animal remains, on the other. Some popular rumors believed this was a method of hiding bodies in case of unexpected checks, but dissection of corpses was legal. Indeed, it was the Venetian Republic that made two corpses a year available to the University, criminals executed in the nearby Piazza del Capitaniato.
Brought to the Bo through the ancient canals now underground, the bodies were prepared in the room adjacent to the Theatre, called the “Anatomical Kitchen”. The sentence that recalls its original use is still legible:
Mors ubi gaudet succurrere vitae
this is where death rejoices in helping life