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• 1 2018-04-23T17:49:32-07:00 Anatomical Theatres 6 plain 2018-04-24T21:41:33-07:00 Due to the obsession of the human body anatomical theatres began to be built during the sixteenth century.  An anatomical theatre is an institution used for teaching anatomy at early modern universities.  The theatre was typically in a room of amphitheatrical shape.  In the center of the room would be a table where dissections of human’s and animal’s bodies would take place.  Around the table were several circular tiers of seating with railings where the students or observers could stand and get a clear view of the dissection from above without any obstructed views by the spectators in front of them.  It was quite common to display skeletons around the theatre and some anatomical theatres even had animal skeletons in surrounding the table in the seating areas.
  The Anatomical Theatre of Padua was the first permanent anatomical theatre in the world and is still preserved today.  Located in Padua of northern Italy it was inaugurated in January of 1595 by Girolamo Fabrici of Acqualpendente, according to the project of Paolo Sarpi and Dario Varotari.  This theatre constituted the model for the anatomical theatres built during the seventeenth century in the main universities of Europe, with all of them being based off the archetype of Padua.  It is still a symbol of a great successful period for Padua University today since anatomy lessons were very popular at the university.  The Anatomical Theatre of Padua is considered to be one of the most important achievements for the study of anatomy during the entire sixteenth century. The Leiden Anatomical Theatre is the most well known anatomical theatre in the world.  Located in Leiden, Netherlands on the University of Leiden this structure was built in 1593 on Peter Pauw’s initiative.  At Leiden dissections were carried out to the public during the early modern period and the beginning of the late modern period.  Common depictions of Leiden in the seventeenth century showed living observers accompanied in their rows of seating by a large number of animal and human skeletons, some of which had banners with the inscriptions such as “Memento mori”, which translates to “Remember, you will die.”
  Even today human anatomy is still a popular subject among individuals.  The American television drama series “The Knick” proves just that.  “The Knick” was created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directed by Steven Soderbergh and premiered August 8, 2014 on Cinemax.  The show follows the staff of Knickerboxer Hospital in New York during the early twentieth century.  A description from IMDb.com states the “The Knick” is “A look at the professional and personal lives of the staff at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital during the early part of the twentieth century. Every day they must deal with lack of funding, personal conflicts, egotism, racial tensions, personal vices, drug addiction, affairs, closed minds, dated nigh-medieval medical techniques and them and their experimental new techniques being misunderstood by most, in order to keep the hospital going and give the ill the help they need. The pressure is enormous and leaves its mark on the souls of most of them.”