Insight into the history of anatomopathological museums – Part 1. From casual assemblages to scientific collections

Introduction

A museum is a building or institution that is dedicated to, houses and cares for a collection of artefacts and other tangible objects of scientific, artistic, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits [1, 2]. Almost every museum has its own area of interest, limited in terms of time, space and theme, including institutions collecting artefacts connected with medicine. One particular type of such an establishment comprises those gathering exhibits from the anatomical pathology field, starting as small private sets of curiosities as a means of entertainment, through private, municipal and later hospital educational collections, up to large, strictly professional assemblages at the medical universities. They also, as time passed, developed several subdivisions – neuropathological, paleopathological and forensic medicine. These exhibits changed from simple artefacts, stones, fossils and bones, through drawings, paintings, plaster and wax models, up to body parts and even whole bodies preserved as dry or wet specimens [2, 3, 4]. These collections, being very important in the development of medicine and anatomopathology, focused the point of interest of scientists, physicians, artists, high society, but also idle spectators.
In many cases museum resources were gathered over the years, and some of the old collections are still open to the public.

The oldest information on anatomopathological collections

The history of pathology museums dates back to the 15th century, when “cabinets of curiosities” began to be created (Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer). This kind of encyclopaedic and partly systematic collection was a rare phenomenon. In the Renaissance the idea of gathering items on the microscale (a microcosm) was to reflect the outer world (a macrocosm) – as above so below – and prove the interests and wide knowledge of the owner and/or creator. The first collections of natural history exhibits along with books and paintings slowly specialized. The origins of “cabinets of curiosities” are associated with artistic collections at the courts in Urbino and Mantua, collections of Emperor Ferdinand I (1503-1564), Ullysee Aldrovandi (1522-1605/1607), the physician Ole Worm (1588-1655), and Ferrante Imperato (1525? – 1615?) [5, 6, 7] (Fig. 1).
Such collections were scattered all over Europe, being the symbol of wealth and demonstration of awareness and knowledge of the complexity of nature. “Cabinets of curiosities” consisted of creations of nature and man (naturalia et artificialia). However, among the earliest collections concerning natural history, ethnography, geology, archaeology and art, anatomical artefacts were only occasionally found. It usually collected animal horns, bezoars and bones. But part of the collections related to humans, especially everything of the abnormal and monstrous about him, was not a very rare finding. Such a specially separated room can be found even in the Kunstkamera of Danish kings [5, 6, 7, 8, 9].
From the second half of the 16th century a more vivid interest in the interior of the human body could be observed [7, 8, 9]. This should be associated with publishing in 1543, of the first up-to-date work on human anatomy by Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), and the beginning of the Baroque era, when the macabre played an important role, often shown through the prism of the ugliness of the human body [9, 10, 11].
Specimens were needed for educational purposes, especially anatomy lessons, but there was a problem with their acquisition. Usually, the prosector during either a public or private autopsy, after finding something far from the normal appearance of the body parts, was able to separate and dissect it. At that time the next problem was either to find a way to preserve the body parts in the best condition or at least recreate them as closely to reality as possible. The easiest natural specimens to obtain and preserve were the osteological ones and calcified pathological lesions. The osteological exhibits were often displayed as decoration in anatomical theatres (Fig. 2). The wet specimens were usually submerged in an alcoholic preservative in sealed jars or other containers made of glass. Dry preparations were primarily injected with resin or wax and then dried. One should also pay attention to the legal, religious and philosophical issues connected with obtaining human bodies for such practices. Given the above reasons, only in the 17th century did larger anatomical collections begin to emerge [7, 8, 10].

From Frederick Ruysch to Honoré Fragonard

In the 17th century the number of autopsies considerably increased. The reasons for that were often willingness to acquire medical information or purely entertainment in the form of public autopsies [12]. Frederick Ruysch (1638-1731), born in The Hague and educated at the University of Leiden under Franciscus Sylvius, having started with pharmacy, devoted his later years to anatomy. Personally interested and involved in preservation of body parts, he created a mixture which allowed tissues to be kept in perfect condition for a long time. Although it was William Harvey (1578-1657) who developed the method of injecting blood vessels, it was Ruysch who refined it and mastered preserving whole bodies or only their parts. His collections of specimens with changing expositions, open to the public (with some restrictions of humanistic and professional nature) were shown in a specially prepared house on the outskirts of Amsterdam. For Ruysch presentation like this had a didactic purpose, which he inscribed in the Guest Book: “Vene, vidi et judica nil tuis oculis” [Come, see and judge, believe only your own eyes]. In his ten-volume book “Thesaurus anatomicus”, published in the years 1701-1716, with copper engraved plates by C. Huijberts, he presented compositions of typically baroque shapes created from gallstones, preserved blood vessels, and children’s skeletons [12, 13, 14] (Fig. 3).
In 1697 and 1717 Ruysch’s collection was shown to Peter the Great, who took a course in anatomy. In Russia, the Tsar issued recommendations for performing autopsies, which were previously prohibited. After visiting Amsterdam, he purchased the whole collection, along with the recipe for the preservation fluid, what gave the foundation for Kunstkamera (1714) in Saint Petersburg. The Tsar, issuing the decree “On gathering born monsters and unusual finds”, started the Russian anatomical (teratological) collections, but first of all he tried to change the attitude towards autopsy and collecting “curiosities”. He decided that the interesting cases would end up in Kunstkamera, in order to carry out detailed research to verify the superstition that deformed fetuses and newborns of humans and animals are the work of the devil. It was also decided that some of the teratological exhibits would be copied in drawings when decorated with high quality clothes. Kunstkamera in Saint Petersburg is open until now and still has 937 original exhibits by Ruysch. Having sold the collection, Ruysch began to create a new one, which after his death was acquired by King Augustus the Strong. Little is known about it, because later it was scattered [12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18].
In the 17th century, also the first anatomo-anthropological museums in Paris, Amsterdam, London and Padua were founded. Their significant development occurred in the subsequent century. It should be associated with the Enlightenment approach to scientific issues. Moreover, in the 18th century, autopsies became more frequent, though the procedures and interpretation varied in different areas.
One of the most important collections of 18th century anatomical specimens was founded by William Hunter (1718-1783), a Scottish anatomist and physician. In 1742 he purchased anatomical specimens from Doctor Douglas, which expanded his own assembly. At his own expense Hunter expanded his house in London, to hold lecture halls and preparation rooms, along with a museum. Its exhibits, on the basis of his last will, were later moved to Glasgow and became the foundation of the first Hunterian Museum (1807). In the 19th century it was relocated to a new building [19, 20, 21, 22]. The younger brother, John Hunter (1728-1793), was also a physician, an anatomist who assembled his own collection of about 15,000 specimens, which was bought by the British government in 1799, and given to the Company (later The Royal College) of Surgeons [20, 21, 22, 23].
One of the oldest collections in France is Musée Fragonard d’Alfort in Paris. The history of this museum dates from 1794 when Professor Honoré Fragonard (1732-1799) made his first anatomical and teratological cabinet. He was one of the first to represent the human body in the form of écorché, that is skinned, revealing muscles, bones and organs. Such exhibits, about 700 prepared by him (now only 21 of them are available), were not only used for the purposes of research or teaching, but also a theatre. In 1771 he was declared insane and stripped of his positions. To this day his creations, such as The Horseman of the Apocalypse based on Albrecht Dürer’s print, elicit extreme emotions [24, 25] (Fig. 4).

Anatomopathological collections created at the turn of the nineteenth century

Up until the 18th century coincidence played a large part in the creation of anatomopathological collections. They were assembled somewhat on the margins of the studies on normal anatomy. Only the development of pathology at the end of the 18th century led to the formation of separate collections as a result of direct research. Moreover, in the course of medical studies more emphasis was placed on the practical experiences connected with direct exploration of the human body, either during autopsies or indirectly by studying various specimens. Patho-clinical correlations were sought. Thus, didactics started to play a great part in the creation of medical collections. This is why one can often see a keynote, and the gathered specimens were more systematic and coherent than the earlier ones, which often constituted a gathering of random yet interesting items [8, 12].
In 1795 Professor Gerardus Vrolik (1775-1859) started collecting anatomical and teratological specimens, both osteological and wet ones, in Amsterdam. His work was expanded by his son Willem (1801-1863), and thus contained in total over 5,000 exhibits [26]. It was a private collection assembled on the basis of research on conjoined twins and congenital defects. The collection shows syndromes with multiple congenital anomalies, skeletal dysplasias, sequences, other complex anomalies, closure defects of the neural tube, and conjoined and acardiac twins. Subsequently it was expanded with donations by Hovius’ collection of pathological bones and Grevers’ dental collection [26, 27]. In 1869, after Willem’s death, the collection was bought by the city community and donated to the municipal Athenaeum Illustre, the later University of Amsterdam, where it is still open and revitalized as Museum Vrolik (Fig. 5). The original preparations underwent MRI examination with cataloguing.
On the other hand, didactic reasons were the basis for the creation of the Anatomical Museum in Edinburgh. It was established in 1798 by Alexander Monro (1733-1817). At the turn of the 18th century, a museum was erected in Edinburgh, which collected books, but also anatomical and pathological exhibits. A century later it was developed to follow the famous Hunterian Museum. Currently the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh houses three museums, including the Surgeons’ Hall Pathology Museum featuring pathological anatomy and human disease studies. Collectively they form Scotland’s largest and oldest medical museum, open to the public since 1832 [21, 28].
At the turn of the 18th and 19th century, scientific collections started to arise on German-speaking territories. Such is the ancestry of today’s collection of the Institut für Anatomie und Zellbiologie der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. Its origins are connected with Johann F. Meckel the Elder (1714-1774) and his son Philipp (1756-1803). The former started to gather specimens in Berlin. His collection included mummified parts of bodies, organs, bones and human skulls. For the purposes of comparative anatomy he also collected zoological specimens. In 1779 Philipp Meckel took over the collection and moved it to Halle. As he was interested in obstetrics, he enriched the assemblage with specimens of embryo distortion at different stages of its development (finally 3476 pieces). His son, Johann F. Meckel the Younger (1781-1833), expanded the collection to more than 12,000 exhibits. In all probability it was the largest and the most famous anatomical collection in this part of Europe. In 1836 it was purchased by the University of Halle [29, 30, 31, 32].
Equally important was a collection established in Vienna, where in 1796 Emperor Franz I founded the Museum of the Pathologic-Anatomical Institute. It was housed in a former asylum for mental patients in Narrenturm. The founder of the collection was Josef P. Ferro (1753-1809), Viennese city physician, but its establishment was only made possible after Johann P. Frank (1745-1821) arrived in the city. Much of the credit for creating the anatomical collection belongs to Lorenz Biermayer (1778-1843), who from 1813 maintained a catalogue of specimens later continued by his successors, including Karl von Rokitansky (1804-1878), who between 1832 and 1875 was a chairman of the board of the Pathology Institute and a museum. The collection features several types of specimens – macerates (human and animal dry specimens of bones and other body parts with pathological changes), as well as wet ones – cadaveric parts with pathological changes, preserved in jars with formalin [33, 34].

Past collections of wax models

Parallel to the above direction in pathology museums, recreation of nature with casts or wax developed. Primarily educational anatomic models were made of wood, horns or ivory [8].
The art of ceroplastics was becoming more refined in the 16th and 17th centuries. It became very useful for educational and scientific purposes. Models of this type had many advantages: they were durable, and devoid of the foul odour of death and atmosphere of the macabre. They were also easy to exhibit, so in the Age of Enlightenment they became a common method of promotion of knowledge on the human body. A great number of them were made with extraordinary precision and sense of aesthetics, placing them among notable works of art (Fig. 6).
Their history begins with the sculptor and anatomist Gaetano Zumbo (1656-1701), who worked in Bologna and made colour wax models for the purposes of studying anatomy. His successor was Ercole Lelli (1702-1766), who for several years cooperated with Giovanni Manzollini (1700-1755). Together they created wax models for the Anatomy Museum of the Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute. They authored many works about muscles and inner organs by studying real corpses during and after dissections. The majority of them were bought by the Royal Society of London and Pope Benedict XIV. Today they are exhibited in several institutions in Bologna and abroad [35, 36, 37]. However, the most famous collection of anatomical wax models is in La Specola – Museum of Natural History in Florence. It originated in 1771 as a teaching aid. The models were made by Clemente Sussini (1754-1814) and his assistants. La Specola exhibits were shown to Emperor Joseph II in 1780, and the models were included in the collections for Josephinum (1782) – Military School of Medicine in Vienna [38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44].

Beginnings of collections on the territory of Poland

The cabinets of curiosities also functioned on Polish ground. One of them was opened in Toruń in 1594 as the Cabinet of Curiosities at the library of the Academic Gymnasium. In 1613 in Gdansk the first public autopsy in this part of Europe was performed by Oelhavius. It is also confirmed that theatrum anatomicum existed in the city at that time, serving autopsies for the students and physicians. In 1724 Johann Kulmus, from Atheneum Gedanense (Gdansk Academic Gymnasium – erected in 1558 with a separate Department of Medicine and Anatomy), performed a famous public autopsy of conjoined twins, which was described and published in detail. These twins were preserved for educational purposes for several years [12, 35, 36] (Fig. 7).
The oldest and most opulent collections were located in Kraków. The origins of the exposition of the Collegium Medicum at Jagiellonian University are connected with Vienna. The humble beginnings of this largest and oldest institution of this type in Poland were 12 specimens of bones and fetuses, which were brought to Kraków from Vienna in 1803. As early as the first half of the 19th century, one of the sections comprised anatomopathological exhibits [37, 45]. Collegium Medicum has also a separate Anatomopathological Museum of Jagiellonian University. The core of the collection, consisting of dry and wet bone specimens, wax models, plaster casts and paper-mâchés, as well as graphics and oil paintings, dates from the early 19th century and is associated with the internist Maciej J. Brodowicz (1790-1885) and surgeon Ludwik Bierkowski (1801-1860) [37, 45].
Anatomopathological collections were also gathered in Vilnius. The university, with its roots in the second half of the 16th century, opened its medical department in 1804. The founder was Johann P. Frank, who came from Vienna and stayed briefly in Vilnius. His legacy was continued by his son Joseph (1771-1842) [46, 47]. Since its inception, the department had been collecting pathology-related items. They were lost, however, during the retreat of Napoleon’s army (starving soldiers of the Grand Army consumed most of the anatomical specimens). In 1815 a new museum was opened in Vilnius, presenting not only zoological and veterinary, but also anatomical collections, which were divided into physiological, osteological, and pathological groups. In 1820, 1833 and 1841 they contained 682, 2 170 and 2 895 specimens, respectively. They included numerous dissected fetuses (often deformed), heads of convicts and suicides, as well as a skeleton arranged in a sitting position, which reportedly could be raised with the help of a hidden mechanism. In 1842, the university and the museum were closed and the majority of the anatomopathological specimens were transferred to the University of Kiev, to the local museum of anatomy [46, 47, 48].

Summary

The beginning of the 19th century was a time of change in the world of medicine. The human body was perceived as a biological mechanism, to which a scientific approach and methods, partly conceived in the Enlightenment era, could be applied. Thus anatomic and anatomopathological collections began to play a major part as scientific and didactic aids in many university centres. The era of collecting just curiosities was finished. However, after the golden age of anatomopathological museums, the fast decrease of their prosperity occurred in the second half of the 20th century.
For our contemporaries the oldest collections bear different values. Just as before, we can admire unusual old exhibits sometimes for their beauty, sometimes due to their aesthetic, educational and of course scientific aspects. These collections bring a wealth of important information for scientific and medical fields – types of preserved exhibits, methods of conservation and storage, and paths of medical education as well. We can also perform historical research concerning past museology, the collectors and development of science. They are also extraordinary cultural heritage of past times.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

1. Encyclopºdia Britannica, Inc., http://www.britannica.com/topic/museum-cultural-institution 24.01.2016
2. Ferrari L, Coda R, Fulcheri E, et al. Ruolo del Museo di Anatomia Patologica: glorie passate, crisi attuale e prospettive future. Pathologica (Genoa) 2001; 93: 196-200.
3. Fulcheri E. I musei di anatomia patologica: un settore troppo trascurato della museologia scientifica, degno di riconsiderazione. Pathologica 1996; 88: 291-296.
4. The Origins of Museums: The Cabinets of Curiosities in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe, ed. Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGregor, 2001.
5. Shackelford J. Documenting the factual and the artifactual: Ole Worm and public knowledge. Endeavour 1999; 2: 65-71.
6. Jaussaud P. The curiosities of three apothecaries. Rev Hist Pharm (Paris) 2003; 51: 603-610.
7. Albertus Seba. Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. Musch I, et al. TASCHEN Gmbh; 25th edition. 2008.
8. Gulczyński J, Iżycka-Świeszewska E. Gabinety i zbiory osobliwości jako pierwsze muzea anatomii, anatomii patologicznej oraz historii naturalnej. In: Dawna medycyna weterynaryjna: pacjent. Felsmann MZ, Szarko J, Felsmann M (eds.). Muzeum Ziemi Chełmińskiej w Chełmnie, Chełmno 2011; 483-504.
9. Purc-Stępniak B. Sekcje zwłok i demonstracje medyczne w malarstwie i grafice europejskiej od XVI do XVIII wieku. In: Joachim Oelhaf i jego następcy. Szarszewski A, Siek B (eds.). Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny, Gdańsk 2013; 111-139.
10. Gulczyński J, Iżycka-Świeszewska E, Grzybiak M. Short history of the autopsy. Part 1. From prehistory to the middle of the 16th century. Pol J Pathol 2009; 60: 109-111.
11. Ellis H. Andreas Vesalius: father of modern anatomy. Br J Hosp Med (Lond) 2014; 75: 711.
12. Gulczyński J, Iżycka-Świeszewska E, Grzybiak M. Short history of autopsy. Part 2. From the second half of the 16th century to contemporary times. Pol J Pathol 2010; 61: 169-175.
13. Ruysch F. Museum anatomicum Ruyschianum, sive catalogus rariorum quae in Authoris aedibus asservantur. Janssonio-Waesbergios, Amstelodami 1721 (2nd edition).
14. Knoeff R. Touching anatomy: On the handling of preparations in the anatomical cabinets of Frederik Ruysch (1638-1731). Stud Hist Philos Bio Biomed Sci 2015; 49: 32-44.
15. Hansen JV. Resurrecting Death: Anatomical Art in the Cabinet of Dr. Frederik Ruysch. The Art Bulletin 1996; 78: 663-679.
16. Mirilas P, Lainas P, Panutsopulos D, et al. The monarch and the master – Peter the Great and Frederik Ruysch. Arch Surg 2006; 141: 602-606.
17. Muller-Dietz HE. Anatomische Praparate in der Petersburg „Kunstkammer”. Zentralblatt für Allgemeine Pathologie und Pathologische Anatomie 1989; 135: 757-767.
18. Franke H. Peter der Grosse und die anatomo-pathologische Praparatesammlung von F. Ruysch. Munch Med Wochenschr 1950; 113: 488-491.
19. The University of Glasgow, http://www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk/ 24.01.2016.
20. Keppie L William Hunter and Hunterian Museum in Glasgow 1807-2007. University Press, Edinburgh 2007; 7-18.
21. Keppie L. The Hunterian collection and its Museum. J Hist Collections 2014; 26: 355-362.
22. Lakhani S. Early clinical pathologists 4: John Hunter (1728-1793). J Clin Pathol 1991; 44: 621-623.
23. Carter R. John Hunter, 1728-1793. World J Surg 1993; 17: 563-565.
24. Degueurce C. The Celebrated Ecorches of Honore Fragonard, Part 1: The Classical Techniques of Preparation of Dry Anatomical Specimens in the 18th Century. Clin Anat 2010; 23: 249.
25. Simon J. The Theater of Anatomy: The Anatomical Preparations of Honore Fragonard. Eighteenth-Century Studies 2002; 36: 63-79.
26. Baljet B, Oostra RJ. Historical aspects of the study of malformations in the Netherlands. Am J Med Genet 1998; 77: 95-97.
27. Oostra RJ, Baljet B, Dijkstra PF, et al. Congenital anomalies in the teratological collection of Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I: Syndromes with multiple congenital anomalies. Am J Med Genet 1998; 77: 100-115.
28. Surgeons’ Hall Museums http://www.museum.rcsed.ac.uk 24.01.2016
29. Institut für Anatomie und Zellbiologie – Halle. http://www.meckelschesammlungen.uni-halle.de/ 28.01.2016.
30. Opitz J M, Schultka R, Göbbel L. Meckel on developmental pathology. Am J Med Genet A 2006; 140A: 115-128.
31. Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, http://www.universitaetssammlungen.de/sammlung/552 28.01.2016.
32. Schwarz S. Die anatomische Privatsammlung der Anatomenfamilie Meckel unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihres präparationstechnischen Profils. http://sundoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/diss-online/00/00H110/
33. Janjua M, Schultka R, Goebbel L, et al. The legacy of Johann Friedrich Meckel the Elder (1724-1774): a 4-generation dynasty of anatomists. Neurosurgery 2010; 66: 758-770.
34. Patzak B, Winter E, Feigl W. Lorenz Biermayer und die Entstehung der Pathologisch-anatomischen Sammlung im Wiener Narrenturm. Wien Med Wochenschr 2013; 163: 310-315.
35. Szarszewski A, Bogotko-Szarszewska M. Auditorium Anatomicum and Theatrum Anatomicum in Gdansk. Folia Morphol (Warsz) 2014; 73: 239-246.
36. Iżycka-Świeszewska E, Hermann B, Gulczyński J. Johann Adam Kulmus i publiczna sekcja zwłok bliźniąt zrośniętych w 1724 roku. W: Joachim Oelhaf i jego następcy. Szarszewski A, Siek B (red.). Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny, Gdańsk 2013; 83-91.
37. Katedra Anatomii Uniwersytet Jagielloński, http://www.katedra-anatomii.cm-uj.krakow.pl/?q=muzeum-katedry
38. Messbarger R. The Lady Anatomist: The Life and Work of Anna Morandi Manzolini. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 2010.
39. Riva A, Conti G, Solinas P, et al. The evolution of anatomical illustration and wax modelling in Italy from the 16th to early 19th centuries. J Anat 2010; 216: 209-222.
40. Dacome L. Waxworks and the performance of anatomy in mid-18th-century Italy. Endeavour 2006; 30: 29-35.
41. Märker A. The anatomical models of La Specola: production, uses, and reception. Nuncius 2006; 21: 295-321.
42. Ballestriero R. Anatomical models and wax Venuses: art masterpieces or scientific craft works? J Anat 2010; 216: 223-234.
43. Chen JC, Amar AP, Levy, ML, et al. The development of anatomic art and sciences: The ceroplastica anatomic models of La Specola. Neurosurgery 1999; 45: 883-891.
44. Nesi G, Santi R, Taddei G. Art and the teaching of pathological anatomy at the University of Florence since the nineteenth century. Virchows Archiv 2009; 455: 15-19.
45. Gryglewski RW. Rozwój krakowskiej kolekcji anatomopatologicznej w XIX stuleciu. Przegl Lek 2013; 70: 997-1001.
46. Grmek M. The history of medical education in Russia. In: The History of Medical Education. O’Malley CD (ed.). University of California Press, Berkeley 1970; 313.
47. Baliński M. Opisanie statystyczne miasta Wilna. Józef Zawadzki, Wilno 1835; 86-88.
48. Sabat D. The historical outline of Vilnius pathological anatomy in the first half of the 19th century. Pol J Pathol 2004; 55: 75-81.

Address for correspondence

Piotr Paluchowski
Department of History and Philosophy of Medical Science
Medical University of Gdańsk,
Tuwima 15
80-210 Gdańsk, Poland
e-mail: p.paluchowski@gumed.edu.pl