“THE HUNCHBACKED DWARF OF VENICE”: A VERY PARTICULAR CASE OF HUMAN BODY PRESERVATION Cafferata B., Fulcheri E., Capitanio G., Micalizio S., Boano R., Pellegrino L., and Bussolati G.
The museum of Pathological Anatomy “Andrea Vesalio” of the Hospital of Venice.
The first document regarding the museum goes back to 1863: “a tradition begun by Aglietti and Zannini handed down some anatomic-pathological findings, collecting them in a kind of museum that was enriched progressively of new preparations dried or in alcohol”
The collection includes: 304 wet specimens (67 glass jar exhibits) 408 bone specimens (69 exhibits) A CABINET WHERE THE SO CALLED “MUMMY OF HUNCHBACKED DWARF” IS PRESERVED
In 2014 the museum was restored with the objective to show the link between the environment and diseases that followed the venecian people through the centuries:
The Lagoon: is an unique environment because we do not have pollution produced by cars
Glass makers: a typical work of Venice with a typical pathology called “emphisema of glass makers�
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The museum permit the union of wet specimens and bone specimens to show different aspects of pathology allowing you to have an image of illnesses that where discovered during autopsies and that were preserved for a duty that appeared in the organic rules in 1874: “among the assignments of the sector, is contemplated the obligation of the maintenance in the museum of interesting human pathological specimens�. Two examples of educational path
The case of human body preservation THE LEGEND: The legend spokes about a dwarf that was seen walking over the bridge and for this reason the man was called “the dwarf of Rialto�
Literature source
This specimen is known in medical literature: it was published, also with the photography, already in 1920 on the “Trattato di Anatomia Patologica per Medici e Studenti” (edited by Foà) by Professor Cagnetto (1874-1943) who was chief of Morbid Pathology in Venice.
External examination The specimen is a whole body of an adult man, presumably 49 years old: - Height ………………………. cm 67 - Cranial circumference ……..cm 56 -Thoracic circumference (hump included) ……………. cm 70 The body is positioned on an old support. On the skin there are evident signs of double cuts, anterior and back: a quite unusual cut for an autopsy but that can be explained by the particularity of the specimen. Moreover is evident the circular cut of the head. The hair and the eyes are still present.
External examination The unnatural shiny and tanned aspect of the skin is due to the techniques of preparation, probably salts of mercury or arsenic.
Radiological examination
The dwarf has been x-rayed and quite surprisingly this exam did not show any trace of internal organic structures: this specimen contains only the bones and a filling material covered by skin.
Radiological examination Professor Belluffi did the following diagnosis: osteogenesis imperfecta
Another hypothesis spokes about Madelung’s disease
Histological examination Technique of embedding in resin A histological examination of a small piece of skin has been done, using the technique of embedding in resin.
Histological examination Masson’s trichrome, skin
It is possible to determine the basal nuclei
Histological examination
This examination had confirmed a perfect preservation not only of the derma but also of the keratinized epidermis.
Histological examination
Muscle
THE TECHNIQUE OF HUMAN BODY PRESERVATION TANNIZATION: procedure practiced by Brunetti in Padua that consisted in different phases: 1) 2) 3) 4)
Wash with water arteries Treatment with sulphuric ether Treatment with tannic acid Dry with hot air
COMPLIANT: unnatural shiny and tanned skin could means that the specimen had undergone a particular treatment, probably using salts of mercury or arsenic. NOT COMPLIANT: the dwarf has been x-rayed and quite surprisingly this exam did not show any trace of internal organic structure: this specimen contains only the bones and a filled material covered by skin.
THE TECHNIQUE OF HUMAN BODY PRESERVATION TAXIDERMY: consists in removing the skin, mounted afterwards on a support and filled with cotton, after the preserving chemical are applied. COMPLIANT: the presence of external skin without internal organic structures is common with this anatomical preparation. NOT COMPLIANT: this technique is usually employed for the conservation of animals but not for the conservation of human bodies.
Did Enrico Filippo Trois influence the choice of this preservation method?
CONCLUSION Despite the absence of a precise historical framework and a precise technical documentation, this case is noteworthy since it can represent perhaps THE ONLY DOCUMENTED CASE OF HUMAN TAXIDERMIC PREPARATION, thus allowing to include the taxidermy between the conservative treatment techniques for musem exhibition of human bodies.