Medical instruments, surgical treatises and period pictures illustrate the development of surgery from the second half of the 18th century –when it started gaining scientific reputation– until it was finally acknowledged as an independent discipline in the 19th century. In the 18th century there emerged the new figure of a surgeon, who was sensitive to the progress of anatomical and physiological knowledge and willing to experiment. During the following century, anaesthetic and antiseptic practices revolutionized operating techniques as well as the very notion of surgery. They made possible to perform complex operations and encouraged the development of surgical specializations, such as abdominal, thoracic and cranial surgery. Surgical instruments were specialized as well, meeting the requirements of new operating techniques.
Exhibition Dates
| 31.05.2002 – 15.09.2002 | Scarperia (Florence), Museo dei Ferri Taglienti (Palazzo dei Vicari) |
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