Local folks and students from the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, the Department of Art, and the Italian Studies program attended Dr. Kevin Petti’s engaging and rich lecture on the nexus between art and anatomy during the Italian Renaissance.
Italy’s medieval universities established the study of human anatomy for physicians. To heighten their art, Renaissance masters clandestinely examined anatomy through human dissection. The profound connection between art and science is best demonstrated by the genius of Michelangelo. Indeed, the wooden crucifix he carved in gratitude for secret access to corpses from a convent’s hospital still hangs in the Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence. The talk examined the nexus between art and science, and the history of anatomy education in the university.
