Connecting Art and Anatomy in Italy
Rome ~ Assisi ~ Florence ~ Bologna ~ Padua ~ Venice
~ Travel Dates: June 5 – 17 OR July 3 – 15 ~
Both Programs Filled!
Summer 2023 Registration Opens September 2022
Click here to message request for more information!
After five years exploring the Connection Between Art and Anatomy in Sicily, Southern Italy, London, Amsterdam, and Paris, the Flagship Anatomia Italiana program returns in Summer 2022!
Travel from Rome to Venice, and examine the history of anatomy in the medical curriculum, and its connection to art. View Renaissance masterpieces from a fresh perspective, and visit the universities where anatomy as a modern science began. Walk the same halls of Vesalius and Harvey, and stand in the dissection theatre of Gabriele Falloppio. Also enjoy all that Italy has to offer such as wine tasting, the world’s greatest food, the fountains of Rome, and the canals of Venice!
Four Nights in Rome
Upon arrival in The Eternal City, take a private transfer to a hotel near the Spanish Steps. In the evening your group gathers for a Welcome Drink on a hotel rooftop terrace overlooking Rome, followed by a walk past the Trevi Fountain for a Welcome Dinner in a local restaurant to taste some traditional Roman recipes. After dinner enjoy a passeggiata past Rome’s most famous monuments such as the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. With private English-speaking guides, tour the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Coliseum and Roman Forum. Because Rome offers a unique opportunity to consider the body as a vehicle for religious expression, a visit to the Catacombs and the stunning ossuary shrines of the Capuchin Crypt is a must. Marvel at Baroque masterpieces by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio in the Borghese Gallery. Learn the secrets of pizza making in a private class! The itinerary provides plenty of free time allowing for strolls through Rome’s stunning array of piazzas, fountains, and churches containing works of art by Michelangelo and other Renaissance Masters.
A Day in Assisi
Depart Rome by private coach for a four-night stay in Florence, but first stop for an afternoon visit to Assisi, the jewel of Umbria and home to Saint Francis, Patron Saint of Italy. A Medieval hilltop town frozen in time, Assisi is perhaps the world’s most important Christian pilgrimage destination. Enjoy a walking tour of the city to visit the Basilica of Saint Francis containing his mortal remains, as well as Giotto’s cycle of frescos describing his life, the foundations of Italian painting.
Four Nights in Florence
Enjoy a Welcome Dinner in a traditional Florentine restaurant, as well as all this amazing Renaissance city has to offer. Marvel at not only the Duomo and Michelangelo’s David, but the Uffizi Gallery, containing perhaps the world’s most important collection of paintings. Enjoy the awe of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, as well as Leonardo’s Annunciation. Stand before the quintessential example of Art and Anatomy Connected, the Wooden Crucifix carved by a 17 year-old Michelangelo in the Basilica of Santo Spirito. This masterpiece was created in gratitude for access to the cadavers he dissected to heighten his art. Florence also offers plenty of shopping for leather and all the latest fashions.
A Day in the Chianti Countryside
Travel by private coach to the Chianti region of Tuscany to visit a winery for an afternoon of wine tasting with a light lunch. Enjoy some relaxing time strolling among the vineyards, olive orchards, and wine cellars of an Italian winery that still employs the old ways.
A Night in Bologna
Depart Florence for a one-night stay in Bologna to visit the Archiginnasio Palace, the historic seat of the University of Bologna, the oldest university in Europe, founded in 1088. The Ancient Anatomy Theatre is more stunning than you can imagine, especially when considering the secrets of the body discovered in this room. The anatomical wax models of the Palazzo Poggi and the Luigi Cattaneo Collection are equally impressive, and further emphasize the unique Italian influence on the history of anatomy education as these sculptures are didactically impressive, and yet works of art in their own right.
A Day in Padua
On the way to Venice, explore Padua for a day visit. Founded in 1222, the University of Padua boasts alums and faculty such as Galileo Galilei, the father of modern science; Andreas Vesalius, the father of modern anatomy; and William Harvey, the father of cardiovascular physiology. On display in the Palazzo Bo, the historic seat of the university is Galileo’s Lecture Podium, and more impressively however, the 1595 Ancient Dissection Theatre, the oldest in the world. The Morgagni Museum of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Padua, displays a wide range of natural specimen pathologies from the 17th-19th centuries, with a focus on how treatments have advanced to the modern day. Padua also offers the Basilica of Saint Anthony containing his mortal remains, as well the tomb of Gabriele Falloppio and other important anatomists.
Three Nights in Venice
The City of Bridges is like no other city in the world. Cruise along the Grand Canal and up much smaller waterways to your hotel. Venice, The Queen of the Adriatic, offers food and wine unique to Italy. Get lost in the winding alleyways of Venice and stumble upon a bacaro for cicchetti, a local wine bar serving Venetian tapas. Optional activities include a boat ride along the lagoon to visit the islands of Burano and Murano to learn about lacemaking and glassblowing, and a Vivaldi concert that will be sure to move you to tears. Celebrate your last night in Venice, with an Arrivederci Dinner!
Connecting Art and Anatomy in Italy
is open to anyone interested in
discovering the deeper layers of Italian culture.
Educated travelers, lovers of art, science,
cuisine and wine, are invited to participate.
Anatomia Italiana programs fill quickly!
Questions? Click here to submit an email!
This itinerary is tentative and subject to change.