Giovanni Tumiati and the origin of the “Museo Anatomico” of the University of Ferrara

Abstract

In the 1790s Giovanni Tumiati, a professor of anatomy and obstetrics at the University of Ferrara, prepared some wax models of the fetus and the female body to be used in his obstetrical teaching to midwives. The models were then acquired by the University of Ferrara and formed the original nucleus of the anatomical Museum of the University, which is now dedicated to Tumiati (1, 2). In his Elements of anatomy, published in 1799-1800, Tumiati explained that the models were the result of his collaboration with Giuseppe Chiappi, an anatomical sculptor from central Italy, and described the method of their production (3). Although there was a long tradition of wax modelling in anatomy and obstetrics, which certainly influenced Tumiati and Chiappi’s work, Ferrara’s models were original both in design and concept (4), thus representing a unique example of anatomical wax models in the history of medicine.