- the coats of arms on every vault
- the carved spruce theater
- the two Spellati
- the Stabat Mater hall
01What it is
The Archiginnasio runs along the east side of San Petronio, behind the long portico called the Pavaglione. It was built in the 1560s to gather the university's scattered schools under one roof, and it was the university's home until the early nineteenth century. Today it houses the city's historic library.
Look up in the courtyard, along the loggias and up the stairs: the walls and vaults are covered with thousands of painted and carved coats of arms, left by students and teachers from all over Europe. La Dotta starts here.
02The anatomical theater
Upstairs is the Teatro Anatomico, a room lined entirely in carved spruce, with tiered seats around a marble table where bodies were dissected for students. It dates from the seventeenth century.
Over the lecturer's chair, a canopy is held up by two carved wooden figures stripped of their skin, the Spellati, made by Ercole Lelli in the eighteenth century.
Note The theater you see is largely a reconstruction. It was wrecked by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt after the war using the carvings recovered from the rubble.
03The Stabat Mater hall
The former law school's lecture hall is known as the Sala dello Stabat Mater, because Rossini's Stabat Mater had its Italian premiere there in 1842, conducted by Donizetti.
04How the visit works
The courtyard and the portico can be walked into. The anatomy theater and the reading rooms are visited on the library's own terms, which change — check with the library before you build a day around them.