Description
Collection of Musical Instruments
Between the 1970s and 1980s, on the initiative of Raffaello Monterosso, director of the School of Paleography and Musical Philology, some instruments of notable historical and artistic value were purchased. From that moment on, the Collection began to grow through acquisitions and donations such as the Boschetto bequest (late 1970s), the donation of rolls for player piano and organ cardboard (which increased the collection already assembled by Raffaello Monterosso) and the Pellini collection (more than sixty copies of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque musical instruments).
Collection of Mathematics
The core of the Department of Mathematics’ holdings consists of a notable collection of mathematical models, among the most important of their kind in Italy. The models are mostly crafted from plaster, but some are also made of other materials: wood, metal, paper, colored threads. They represent geometric objects such as curves, surfaces and polyhedra. Most of the models date back to the last decades of the 19th century and the beginning of the following century. This was the golden age of models, which at the time had considerable educational and scientific importance, which later declined, first due to a changed approach to mathematics and then to the advent of computers. In addition to the models, the collection also preserves some mechanical calculation instruments, also dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Physiology Collection
It preserves instruments of various kinds, used in basic physiological research, aimed at shedding light on the complex systemic, tissue and cellular physiological mechanisms: various glassware, galvanometers, sphygmographs, scales, kymographs, devices for measuring tactile and pain sensitivity, and so on. The objects collected cover a chronological span that goes from the foundation of the Institute of Physiology by Eusebio Oehl, in 1860, to the years immediately following the Second World War.
The collection is currently closed to the public, for information please contact the Department of Molecular Medicine – Human Physiology Section, via Forlanini, 6 – Pavia
(Tel. + 39.0382.984707).
Histology and Embryology Collections
In the Histology and General Embryology Section of the Department of Experimental Medicine, there is a collection of materials prepared in the past for teaching and research. This includes microscopic preparations of histological sections from various tissues and organs, primarily dating back to the first half of the twentieth century. Additionally, there are embryological wax models and preparations from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. The collection also features microscopes and other instruments from the first half of the twentieth century.
The collection is currently closed to the public, for information please contact the Department of Experimental Medicine – Section of Histology and General Embryology, via Forlanini, 10 – Pavia (Tel. +39.0382.984707).
Collection of Anatomy
The collection, established at the end of the eighteenth century by the anatomists of the University of Pavia and linked to the activity of scientists such as Giacomo Rezia, Antonio Scarpa, Bartolomeo Panizza, Giovanni Zoja, is a rare example of “crystallization” of a nineteenth-century scientific museum. It houses mainly natural preparations, divided into different sections: Osteology, Angiology, Embryology, Splanchnology, Aesthesiology, Neurology and Topographical Anatomy. The common origins link these collections to the Medicine section of the Museum for the History of the University.
The collection is currently closed to the public, for information please contact the contact person, prof. Maria Gabriella Cusella, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, via Forlanini, 8 – 27100 Pavia (gabriella.cusella@unipv.it / Tel. +39.0382.987647)