Bologna

 The Anatomical Theater in the University of Bologna is beautiful.

 Teaching at the University of Bologna began around 1088, with the university becoming organized as guilds of students (universitas scholarium) by the late 12th century, it is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning. The university was granted a charter (Authentica habita) by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1158, after which it is likely that enough instruction and organization existed to merit the term university

The entry of students from the German Nation in the Natio Germanica Bononiae; miniature of 1497

In the fall of 1496, Nicolaus Copernicus arrived in Bologna and a few months later (after 6 January 1497) signed himself into the register of the Bologna University of Jurists' "German nation", since Copernicus' family was from the German speaking part of Royal Prussia. 

 The Anatomical Theater is also well-known and was built in carved wood by Antonio Levante in 1637 to teach anatomy. The famous “Spellati” (Skinned Men) statues by Ercole Lelli are on display inside. The theater underwent several modifications and reached its final shape between 1733 and 1736. In this period, Silvestro Giannotti carved the wooden statues which decorate the theater walls.

 

 

The dissection table

The wing of the palace which houses the Anatomical theater today

 the Palace of the Archiginnasio was the first unified seat of the University of Bologna. It currently houses the Archiginnasio Municipal Library and the Anatomical Theatre. The building was begun at the end of February 1562, built very quickly, it was inaugurated on October 21, 1563. The goal of this project was to create a single place where the Schools of the "Legisti" (Canon and Civil law) and "Artisti" (philosophy, medicine, mathematics, natural sciences and physics), previously located in various places across the town, could be hosted together. The building of the new "Schools" was named Archiginnasio after the classical term which was used to designate the Studium, as the University was first called, of Bologna. It has been the home of the Municipal Library since 1838, after Napoleon closed the monasteries.

The statue of Mondino de Liuzzi

Mondino de Luzzi, was born around 1270 and died around 1326. He was also known as Mundinus, and he was an Italian physician, anatomist and professor of surgery, who lived and worked in Bologna. 

The statue of Galenus

Galen of Pergamon was a Roman and Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher who lived from 129 AD to 216 AD . He was one of the most accomplished of all medical researchers of antiquity. Galen influenced the development of various scientific disciplines, including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology, as well as philosophy and logic.

The statue of Hippocrates

Hippocrates was a Greek physician and philosopher of the classical period who was born in 460 BC on the Greek island of Kos and died around 370 BC. He is one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referred to as the "Father of Medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field, such as the use of prognosis and clinical observation, the systematic categorization of diseases, and the (however misguided) formulation of humoral theory. The Hippocratic school of medicine revolutionized ancient Greek medicine, establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields with which it had traditionally been associated (theurgy and philosophy), thus establishing medicine as a profession.

The statue of Apollo on the ceiling

The teacher's chair and the statues of the ‘Spellati’ (skinned man)

Gasparo Tagliacozzi-holding a nose in his hand, because he had been the first to attempt reconstructive plastic surgery. The two famous statues of the “Spellati” (skinned) are the work of the well-known artist of anatomical wax displays, Ercole Lelli. 

 allegorical image of Anatomy is above the speaker's chair.

Santo Stefano

The origins of the complex are controversial and disputed. According to the most accepted theory, it was built by Petronius on the ruins of a pre-existing pagan temple, flanked by a reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Next to the sacellum with the remains of Bologna protomartyrs Vitale and Agricola we find the buildings erected by the Benedectines between the 10th and 13th centuries. 

This part of the Seven Churches dates back to the fifth century and was build above an ancient temple of the goddess Isis. The Church of the Santo Sepolcro was designed to reproduce faithfully the place where Christ’s remains were deposited after his death. The room is octagonal and it is entirely dominated by the large pulpit in its center. There were performed many rituals during the Middle Ages,  according to an ancient tradition, the pregnant women of Bologna used to walk thirtythree times (the Christ’s age) around the Sepulcher and, at the end of the thirty-third turn, the women went to the nearby Martyrium church to pray before the fresco of Madonna Incinta. Also for a long time there were kept the relics of San Petronio. Only few years ago, in 2000 A.D. ,from the pagan origin, with Isis’s temple, to the christian story with the temple conversion in a space for baptismal occasion.

The element of the water put together both the cults, and it seems that has encouraged the bishop Petronio to build a sacral implant, similar to what he saw on his trip to Jerusalem.

Potsdam

 We decided to take a couple of days to see Potsdam. Kathy has never been to Sanssouci, which is a big oversight in our trips. So on the first full day of our trip, and we went to Sanssouci Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

The park was designed by Friedrich II of Prussia, who is call Frederick the Great in English. Friedrich had an interesting life.  When Frederick the Great was born in 1712, his grandfather, Frederick I, was king of Prussia. When Frederick I died, his son Frederick William I became King in Prussia, thus making young Frederick the crown prince. Sophia Dorothea of Hanover was the mother of Frederick the Great and the daughter of George I of Britain. (So George the I was Friedrich's uncle.)

Frederick had nine siblings who lived to adulthood. Of his six sisters, the eldest was Wilhelmine, who became his closest sibling. Wilhelmine married Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, and the baroque buildings and parks built during her tenure shape much of the present appearance of the town of Bayreuth, Germany. See our blogs on the Margravial Opera House. and Birthday in Bayreuth.

Friedrich and his sisters were brought up by a Huguenot (protestants who fled Catholic France) governess and tutor, and he learned French and German simultaneously.

Frederick is known for his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment, but also for his military successes. Frederick was a supporter of enlightened absolutism, stating that the ruler should be the first servant of the state.

He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men of lower status to become judges and senior bureaucrats. Frederick encouraged immigrants of diverse backgrounds to come to Prussia, and he allowed religious freedom, including Jews and Catholics in Prussia. Although the Nazis regarded him as a military hero, historians in the 21st century tend to view Frederick as an outstanding military leader and capable monarch, committed to enlightenment culture and administrative reform.

Friedrich's flute

Music room with pianoforte and flute.

Frederick II was a virtuoso flute player and composer in a time when the flute was common in European popular music. He embraced a new, still-experimental keyboard instrument called the pianoforte, helping it spread throughout aristocratic and bourgeois circles and laying the groundwork for the great industry of German piano manufacturing in the nineteenth century, including the firms of Steinweg (Steinway), Beckstein, and Bösendorfer. 

Sanssouci was built from 1745 until 1747 as a private residence for Friedrich, where he could escape the pomp and ceremony of the royal court in Berlin. Friedrich's personal tastes dominate the construction. Sanssouci has only one story, so Friedrich didn't have to climb stairs. The view would have been better from a second story, but Friedrich would not have been as close to the vineyard. The palace was intended for the use of Friedrich and his private guests only during the summer months, from the end of April to the beginning of October.

His sketch indicated the suites for guests and those for the king. The bedrooms for guests were on the west end, and the Kings rooms were on the east. The design and decoration of the palace is characterized as "Frederician Rococo", the main ornaments of which are asymmetrical shells, Bears Britches and other leaves, birds, bouquets of flowers, fruit, musical instruments, and angels. Here we see a photo of his library.

Library

The Marble Hall is the palace's reception room. Guests were led from the Entrance Hall directly into this room. This room is ostentatious than Friedrich's private rooms.

Marble Hall

Chandeliers are from rock crystal

 Statue of Athena

Columns are each made from a single piece of Carrara Marble 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instead of warm parquet floors, as in his private rooms, the floor of the Marble Room is made from colored marble inlays in the shapes of vines.

 

 stucco putti 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The guest rooms had built-in beds with drapes to keep in the heat, because Sanssouci was built before electricity or central heating.

 

 

 

I especially liked the guest room with the monkey and squirrel.

 

 

 

The park is big, and there a many buildings and monuments to see. From the Sanssouci Palace, we walked along the path to the Belvedere, passing the Old Mill, the Orangerie, and the Dra

 Frederick built the New Palace (Neues Palais) in the baroque style in the western part of the park twenty years following his creation of Sanssouci.