title: Science, art, and mistery in the statues and in the anatomical machines of the prince of sansevero: the masterpieces of the "Sansevero Chapel".
abstract: During the 18th century in Naples, Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, completed works on the family chapel, the so-called "Cappella Sansevero." The chapel houses statues of extraordinary beauty and spectacularly detailed but also, in the basement, two human skeletons known as the "Anatomical Machines" ("Macchine Anatomiche"). These two skeletons, a man and a pregnant woman, are entirely surrounded by their circulatory systems, just as if these were suddenly fixed. Legend, believed as truth until few years ago, says that Prince Raimondo had prepared and injected an unknown embalming substance in the blood vessels of two of his servants convicting them to eternal fixity. Recent investigations have demonstrated that, while the bones are authentic, the blood vessels are actually extraordinary artifacts that also reproduce some congenital malformations. The dreadful aspect of these two skeletons appears to be in strident contrast with the classic beauty of the statues which glorify and celebrate the ideal of morphology. Conversely, the two Anatomical Machines, protagonists of legends and superstitions since centuries, represent a marvelous example of science mixed with art.
authors.affiliation: Unità Operativa di Genetica Medica, Ospedale Gaetano Rummo, Benevento, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Della Monica
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Galzerano
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Michele
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Acquaviva
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gregorio
authors.forename: Fortunato
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lonardo
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sguazzo
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scarano
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lama
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scarano
mesh_terms: D000715:Anatomy / Q000266:history; D000716:Anatomy, Artistic; D005260:Female; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008512:Medicine in the Arts
keywords: anatomical machines; congenital heart defect; morphology; sansevero chapel