The Lady Anatomist

Lord Byron was amazed: "At Bologna, I saw an Anatomical gallery […] in which the parts of shame of boths sexes are exhibited to the life - all made and moulded by a FEMALE Professor." This film tells the untold story of Anna Morandi Manzolini (1714-1774), a trailblazing anatomist, artist and scientist. Against all odds and conventions, this woman of humble origins became a respected professor at the university of her native Bologna. Her pioneering scientific achievements were at the same time true works of sculptural art and were part and parcel of the age of enlightenment. Anna Morandi‘s work revolutionized the study of the human body and medicine. She created fine anatomical wax models that were more lifelike than anything seen before, but also produced original anatomical texts based on her close observations of the human body. Unheard-of at the time, Morandi even thought private classes – a privilege otherwise reserved for the most outstanding male professors. Her lessons were frequented by both medical students and visitors from all over Europe, many of them aristocrats on their Grand Tour of Europe. Notables such as the Royal Society of London and even the Russian Empress Katherine the Great commissioned anatomical works by Morandi. Yet while she gained the support of Pope Benedict XIV and inspired Austrian Emperor Joseph II to set up the Collegium-Medico-Chirurgicum-Josephinum in Vienna, Morandi also faced fierce opposition from male rivals. They often disguised their misogyny as pseudo-science - and made sure that the pay of the only woman in their ranks remained humble. Once her husband and collaborator had died from tuberculosis in 1755, she continually struggled to maked ends meet now that she was the sole breadwinner of the small surviving family. It was only recently that a newly discovered document allowed a sculpture to be identified as a self portrait of Anna Morandi Manzolini. It serves as a starting point of this vivid documentary drama about the life of a woman that continues to inspire until today. Anna Morandi Manzolini died 350 years ago, on 9 July, 1774.