Lorenzo Tenchini - Places to visit

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Dating back to the 17th century, the Studium in Parma (so called Studium Farnesianum) started the production of ceroplastic anatomical specimens in a “Gabinetto Anatomico e Patologico in Cera", whose real existence is still matter of debate. Between 1776 and 1820 the “Gabinetto” was directed by the Anatomist and Professor of Ceroplastics Andrea Corsi, likely involved in the realization of 3 human bodies at a natural size (as described in documents of the State Archive of Parma), whose style is consistent with that of the florentin ceroplast, Clemente Susini. In 1949 only two of these statues were found, and are currently exposed at the S.BI.BI.T. Musem (later Museum of Biomedicine). One of these statues has recently been restored at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, through the grant support provided by the Project MIUR Legge 6/2000 - ACPR_00312, aimed at the promotion and cataloguing of the anatomical materials in Italian university museums.

The ceroplastic activity was interrupted at the half of the 19th century, and started again at the end of the same century through the work of the anatomist, Lorenzo Tenchini who was primarily interested in psychiatric and forensic anthropometry.

He collected more than 400 skulls of inmates and mentally-disturbed subjects, as well as their mummified brains (not visible by the public) and numerous visceral preparations of their bodies, currently used as teaching material for the biomedical courses at the University of Parma. In addition, Tenchini prepared reproduction of the faces of these subjects using a very personal procedure that included a mould, covering wax and original skin. At present 37 of these masks have been completely restored, whereas 9 are still under recovery. Each of these masks is accompanied by a card detailing the clinical and legal history of the people reproduced, kept in the Archive of the Museum Library. Since the number of cards is much higher than that of the masks, it is reasonable to believe that part of those reproductions has gone lost. However, part of the masks is currently exposed at the Lombroso Museum, in Turin; the reason for this is unclear, likely it was the consequence of a transitory exposition of those samples at turn of the 19th century followed by the sudden death of Tenchini in 1906, who did not claim

the samples back to Parma, so they remained in Turin where still today they represent one of the major attractions of the Lombroso Museum.

In the first half of the 20th century, all anatomical collections were gathered in the Museum of Normal Human Anatomy, located inside the same University Insitute, and hosted by the Maggiore Hospital in Parma.

Starting from the half of the 20th century, a new anatomical ceroplastic activity developed, thanks to the studies of Proff. Gaetano Ottaviani e Giacomo Azzali. Thus, numerous three-dimensional (3D) reproductions of vetebrate lymphatic vessels were mounted, giving rise to the Ottaviani-Azzali collection.

In 2006 all ceroplastic and mummified, anatomical preparations were reorganized inside the Museum of the Department of Human Anatomy, Pharmacology, and Forensic Medicine (M.A.F.S.), joined by historical materials from the Section of Forensic Medicine. A Scientific Direction was established, leaded by Prof. Roberto Toni.

Following the national university reform, in 2012 a new Musem and Historical Museum Library of the Department of Biomedical, Biotechnological, and Translational Sciences - S.BI.BI.T. were set, collecting all materials from the M.A.F.S., enriched by additional human anatomical preparations located in the section of Pathology.

On January 1st, 2017 the S.BI.BI.T Museum and Museum Historical Library will become the new Museum and Museum Historical Library of Biomedicine, as a result of the reform of the university departments promoted by the Rector of the University of Parma, Prof. Loris Borghi and the establishment of the Museum Network at Parma University, leaded by the Rectoral Representative Prof. Luca Trentadue.

At present time, the S.BI.BI.T Museum and Museum Historical Library (and forthcoming Museum and Museum Historical Library of Biomedicine) are linked to the web through two specific sites, in a continuous upgrading in dependence on the teaching and research academic needs, including the Department web site (http://www.anfamedmuseo.unipr.it/tenchini_it.html) and the University web site (http://www.musei.unipr.it/it/musei/museo-sbibit).

The research activity of the Museum includes topics of biomedical robotics, human organogenesis, interactions between morphology and endocrinology through the centuries, and techniques for ceroplastic restoration based on biomaterials.

The real numerosity of this extraordinary collection is still under evaluation, and continuously enlarging. Up to recently, it was believed to comprise only around 400 human skulls of anthropological-criminological type (psychotics, mentally-retared and -disturbed, violent and socially dangerous people, inmates for various crimes) collected by the anatomist Lorenzo Tenchini (born in Brescia in 1852, dead in Parma in1906), who teached human anatomy at the University of Parma at the end of 1800, following the frenological ideas of Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) and Johann Caspar Spurzheim (1776-1832).

This scientific perspective is highlighted by the presence of panels with bones derived from the branchial arches (hyoid bone), whose investigation was aimed at the identification of structural analogies between socially dangerous and/or mentally-disturbed individuals and the primitive hyoid bone of other Mammals, as anticipated by the theory of atavism developed by Cesare Lombroso, and adopted by Tenchini himself.

However, recent investigations conducted by the Scientific Direction of the Museum in collaboration with the Chair of History od Medicine of the University of Milan (Prof. Alessandro Porro) have revealed that these skulls correspond to a collection of mummified brains, not yet visible by the general public and, likely at least to dehydrated anatomical preparations of viscera from the bodies of the same subjects, including bones, muscles, ligaments, fasciae, nerves, and vessels the latter injected with coulored masses, primarily gypsum to differentiate between arteries and veins. In collaboration with ENEA (Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, Energia, Ambiente), CINECA (Consorzio Universitario per il Calcolo Automatico) and the students of the Electives of Theory of the Experimental and Clinical Anatomical Reasoning, and Hypothalamic Neurosecretion from the Course of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Parma, the Scientific Direction has mounted on the web an anatomical hypertext, continuosly upgrading, based on the anatomical preparations of the Tenchini Collection, allowing for their 3D immersive navigation from the surface to the depth, in a 360° view. The hypertext was realized in collaboration with Francesco Saggese, Lorella Camino, Sergio Petronilli, Savero Zambonelli e Antonella Guidazzoli, and provides an example of one of the numerous educational project offered to the students of the University of Parma, and to anybody navigating through the web.

A unique feature of this collection is the presence of 46 reproductions (masks or moulages) of the face of the subjects used by Tenchini to conduct his anatomical studies, made in wax and other inorganic and organic materials, equipped with a short note inherent the personal, clinical and forensic history of the individual represented. All anatomical specimens are related to the trend of anthropometric and forensic studies typical of the end of the 19th century, aimed at correlating the morphology of the skull and brain with behavioral attitudes, including those of criminals. Between 2013 and 2016 the Tenchini collection has been catalogued by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione (ICCD), as a part of the scientific project MIUR Legge 6/2000 - ACPR_00312, focussed to the promotion and cataloguing of materials from italian university musems and, hopefully before the end of 2016 part of the collection will be published on an international bilingual (italian and english) volume edited by Skyrà (Milan).

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