Turin – Museum of Human Anatomy Luigi Rolando

The city’s museum of human anatomy has been in operation (note the word play there….) since 1739 and it has been in its current location since 1898. There’s now a deliberate attempt to ensure that it maintains its period charm, so there haven’t been any recent efforts to update or modernise the displays. Given the nature of what’s inside the museum there’s also a ban on photography.

A few items from the eighteenth century collection remain, but the bulk of it dates to the nineteenth century. The staff member at the ticket desk was helpful and friendly, giving me an English map of the museum. Some of the highlights included the skeletons of a giant and a dwarf, the first Etruscan skull to be the subject of science, hundreds of brains, two South American mummies and a collection of wax medical models.

There is perhaps an opportunity to improve the lighting in the museum as some elements were dark, and a lot of the exhibits weren’t captioned at all, so they remained something of a mystery. But, an intriguing museum if nothing else….