G. B. MORGAGNI AMONG HUMAN PATHOLOGY, FORENSIC MEDICINE AND MUMMIOLOGY. THE BEATIFICATION OF GREGORIO BARBARIGO OF PADUA

G.B. Morgagni and the origins of the paleopathology

Abstract

https://doi.org/10.31952/amha.18.1.2

The article is the first step of a research project aimed at investigating new perspectives and aspects of Morgagni’s role and work. His activities as a medical examiner and forensic doctor are yet to be truly discovered. Manuscripts, written by Morgagni when he was a forensic expert for the Health Magistrate of Venice, currently preserved at the City Library in Forlì (Italy), shed light on a new aspect of his cultural background. As a forensic doctor, he also helped push an increase in “social medicine” in Italy, when physicians began to collaborate with the administrative and political institutions in order to plan environmental and urban regulations to control air quality. While reading his reports, his contribution to the primordial medical Hygiene and Public Health emerges. Among his reports, the authors focused on the one concerning the Beatification of Gregorio Barbarigo, which clearly highlights his pathological approach, as well as his knowledge and application of embalming systems and mummiology. Moreover, this report could be considered as an issue in the history of paleopathology.

Author Biographies Marco Cilione, Sapienza University of Rome

Marco Cilione – Phd - Unit of History of Medicine and Bioethics

Sapienza University of Rome - Viale dell’Università 34/a – 00185, Rome (Italy). Mail: marco.cilione@uniroma1.it

Valentina Gazzaniga, Sapienza University of Rome

Valentina Gazzaniga, Full Professor, Department of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies

Unit of History of Medicine and Bioethics - Sapienza University of Rome - Viale dell’Università 34/a – 00185, Rome (Italy). Mail: valentina.gazzaniga@uniroma1.it