A long corridor, in the center many students consulting volumes and learning Medicine lessons. A beautiful atmosphere that brings cheer and hope for the future. Certainly not usual. We are in the heart of the second university of Campania, the Vanvitelli. And it shows.

The path leading to the entrance of the Museum of Pathological Anatomy is fascinating.

Another door, at the end of the corridor of study rooms and classrooms, puts visitors in front of a surprising scenario: display cases with exceptional specimens, illuminated as at the beginning of the 1900s, a collection that shows without veils and with scientific rigor the progress of Man in the medical field. Knowledge and wisdom awaken admiration for those excellent minds that have been able to offer solid surgical and care foundations to all of us.

Your first impression is not wrong at all: this visit will be truly different from all those done and to be done in Naples.

Welcome to the Anatomy section that collects a collection of unique anatomical pieces both in number and in preparation techniques and conservation methods.

The must-see specimens

The museum route should be done carefully, observing numerous details in the showcases that guard authentic wonders. Here the pieces are original, that is, they date back to the time when studies and observations were made: which makes the entire anatomical collection even more precious.

The mummified limbs by Marini

Better known as "Marini's petrifications", these specimens evoke particular suggestions. The scientist Efisio Marini in the second half of the 19th century indeed developed a method of mummification and petrification of organic parts that allows maintaining flexibility and natural color thanks to a mixture of metal salts of his invention.

In the first part of the collection, you can admire upper limbs but with a primordial mummification, while the second part consists of petrifications of upper and lower limbs and a head of a young girl. For its singular beauty, a small table stands out, whose top is formed by a mixture of blood, brain, liver, bile, lungs where, in the center, lies a beautiful hand of a young woman that Marini had presented at the first Paris Expo. 

The skulls of the Vicaria

The section of ancient skulls is rich in numerous specimens dated from the 1st century BC until the 1800s.

The first series belongs to the populations of the Sarno countryside and was found in a tomb.

The second came to light in the archaeological areas of Pompeii and Herculaneum, also thanks to the collaboration of the anthropological museum of Athens, where they are still studied today.

Then there are the skulls of the indigenous populations that inhabited the Pontecagnano area: they come from an excavation in the Seventies.

Finally, four skulls of criminals executed in April 1800 in the Vicaria Court: on them, you can read the signs of forensic phrenology studies, carried out by Professor Giovan Battista Miraglia.

The specimens in immersion

The first thing to say is that all the specimens in this part of the collection are immersed in liquids inside original glass cases from the era, which makes restoration operations very complicated, as well as maintaining organoleptic properties.

You can observe dissections in formalin or alcohol of parts of the human body, both of adult subjects and in development. But also dissections of heads showing the encephalic structures and their coatings and the more peripheral branches of some of the cranial, maxillary, and mandibular nerves.

Then muscle groups, and articulations of the elbow, knee, hand, and foot. Trunks deprived of the anterior part showing regions of particular didactic interest, such as the inguinal tract.

In other showcases are displayed hearts, parts of the bronchial tree and digestive tube, pelvic organs both male and female. 

The anatomical plates

The Museum also collects part of the ancient book collection from the Institute of Anatomy. That is, numerous treatises printed between the 15th and 19th centuries, which are the testimony of the bibliographic tools available to teachers and students in various eras.

A faithful account of past anatomical and medical knowledge. The volumes are a precious trace for those interested in identifying the training path of students and the teaching experience of the professors who have succeeded to the chair of Anatomy.