In Bologna, the 1637 construction of the anatomical theatre of Archiginnasio for the public lessons was a turning point for the study of anatomy. On the one hand, this theatre was a place officially dedicated to the practise of science; on the other hand, it was also a ceremonial space: professors of the University taught students and stated their importance in the social environment in the presence of politicians, following specific rituals. Before the inauguration of the theatre of Archiginnasio as the official seat for public dissection, anatomy had been practised in the city for almost three centuries; during this period autopsies were carried out in different settings that developed in connection with the evolution of medicine and theatres. Art, science and culture cooperated together in a history that started from the Middle Age, passed through Humanism and Renaissance and ended in the baroque theatre of the seventeenth century. The anatomical theatres built before 1637 have been pulled down, above all because most of them weren’t designed to survive. We can study them thanks to some testimonies, images and a few documents that told us the articulated history of anatomy in Bologna. In the present paper I retrace this history, passing through the first dissections in basic rooms, through the temporary theatres and through the first anatomical theatre of Archiginnasio, preciding the one of 1637. The lack of documents makes it difficult to establish the shape and the exact location of the ancient anatomical theatres, so my attention will be focused on the urban localization of them and on their relationship with the city, in a history that runs along three centuries
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