The Lady Anatomist: The Life and Work of Anna Morandi Manzolini

by Rebecca Messbarger

Anna Morandi Manzolini (1714-74), a woman artist and scientist, surmounted meager origins and limited formal education to become one of the most acclaimed anatomical sculptors of the Enlightenment. The Lady Anatomist tells the story of her arresting life and times, in light of the intertwined histories of science, gender, and art that complicated her rise to fame in the eighteenth century.

 

Examining the details of Morandi’s remarkable life, Rebecca Messbarger traces her intellectual trajectory from provincial artist to internationally renowned anatomical wax modeler for the University of Bologna’s famous medical school. Placing Morandi’s work within its cultural and historical context, as well as in line with the Italian tradition of anatomical studies and design, Messbarger uncovers the messages contained within Morandi’s wax inscriptions, part complex theories of the body and part poetry. Widely appealing to those with an interest in the tangled histories of art and the body, and including lavish, full-color reproductions of Morandi’s work, The Lady Anatomist is a sophisticated biography of a true visionary.

 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art, Science

248 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2010

About the author

Rebecca Messbarger is an American historian and academic whose research centers on the Italian Enlightenment, in particular the intersection of anatomy and art, and medicine and religion, and the shifting roles of women in civic and academic life during the age. She was educated at Loyola University (BA), the University of Wisconsin, Madison (MA), and the University of Chicago (PhD). She is Professor of Italian; Affiliate Professor of History, Art History, International and Area Studies, Performing Arts, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Director of Undergraduate Studies in Italian; and Founding Director of Medical Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis.

Reviews

[Bill Hsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the two 18th century Italian schools of anatomical waxworks, the Florentine school enjoys most of the documentation available in English. (The Florentine models are also well-preserved and easier to see; I've visited the collection at La Specola in Florence, and stopped by the collection at the Josephinum the few times I've been in Vienna.) I'm not sure what took me so long to discover this item, but I was obviously very excited to dive in.

Messbarger does an excellent job filling in the socio-cultural background of 18th century Bologna and Italy, the role of patronage (the Bolognese pope Benedict XIV was a major supporter; it's hard for us today to imagine the Vatican being an advocate of scientific advancement), and gender politics surrounding anatomists, modelers, and the models themselves. Morandi's story and achievements are simply amazing. She was very hands-on and largely a one-person operation (after her husband's death), whereas the Florentine school employed teams of modelers and sculptors. Messbarger also touches (lightly) on Morandi's dire financial straits after her husband's death; the support she received from the state was much smaller than awards to comparable anatomist/modelers. She had to put one of her two young sons up for adoption; is that sad or what???

There are many excellent photos of Morandi's models, including her beautiful self-portrait in wax:

https://thumbs-prod.si-cdn.com/ilgXVU...

The book is not completely free of academic prose and art historian elaborations (neither of which I'm a fan of), but for the most part it is quite readable. (And when the going gets tough, the tough start skimming, shhh.) Would also be nice to have more descriptions of Morandi's modeling processes.

[Geertje · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until two nights ago, I had no idea that Anna Morandi Manzolini had existed. Now, of course, I know a lot more than I did those two nights ago. Although The Lady Anatomist is definitely an academic text, I found it easy enough to read. I particularly enjoyed the detailed contextualisation Messbarger provided so that we may understand Morandi and her work better. I also thoroughly enjoyed her small section on the anatomical Venus, in which she disagrees with many feminist interpretations. I am an avid feminist myself, but I think that, although our modern-day responses to objects such as the anatomical Venus are justified and valuable, it is vital to place objects within their historical context if we want to understand them properly and judge them fairly. Indeed, without that context, I would never have understood what exactly makes Morandi's wax works unique.
A highly specialised read, perhaps, but one I have found useful and interesting (I'd like to thank Messbarger for her explanation as to HOW wax works were made; it could perhaps have been longer, but it helped me a lot).

[Caterina Pierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, beautifully illustrated. Absolutely frustrating captions, which lack sizes and dates or approximate dates for the objects. I also would have liked more info on the connection between art and science in Italy circa 1700-1800. But the author is not an art historian so that is lacking. Otherwise it is a great study of Morandi & her works.

[Giorgia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so indebted to messbarger for introducing me to this amazing woman from enlightenment-era Bologna. This is the work that sparked my interest in early modern obstetrical science / midwifery and if it wasn't for her my thesis wouldn't have existed! I do think at times some of the leaps she makes regarding Morandi's intents are a little bit imaginative, but given the limitations of the sources it's understandable that she took this route. It's very ambitious in this regard and ultimately up to readers to decide how Morandi may have thought about her work and it's place in the highly male dominated world of the university

[Heather Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am -- needless to say -- always on the lookout for information about inspiring historic women, particularly in the intellectual sphere. This is an engrossing biography of an 18th century Italian woman who achieved fame (and a reliable living) as an anatomist but even more so as a creator of wax anatomical models, used for educational purposes (as well as falling on that delicate balance point between art and grotesque curiosity).

She lived in Bologna at a time when there was a deliberate push to revive the reputation of the medical school there, providing the opportunity for a woman with little formal medical education to become renowned as a researcher and educator, though her career (like that of many other women) was enabled -- if not entirely made possible -- by having a husband who practiced in the same field. The author places her in a context against other academic women of the time, such as Laura Bassi, who was the first woman to officially receive a degree from the University of Bologna in 1732.

Manzolini was not simply an anatomical artist in wax but also a technician who developed her own improvements in the materials of her art and gave spirited lectures in the home laboratory she shared with her husband (who seems to have been relatively uninvolved in the public presentation of their work). They were (in the idiom of modern Kalamazoo) "independent scholars" rather than being associated directly with the university, though correspondence and other records show that she took part in an interactive community of medical researchers both in and out of academia.

Despite the fragility of her work, many of her wax models survive, including a pair of half-body sculptures of Manzolini and her husband, caught in the act of anatomizing.