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MUSME: The Museum fitting all ages

MUSME, inaugurated on June 5th 2015, is a new generation museum illustrating – both rigorously and entertainingly – the extraordinary journey of Medicine from ancient discipline to modern science, with a keen eye on the history of Padua’s medical school.

Balancing the past and the future, MUSME revolutionizes the concept of scientific museum, becoming an Italian excellence and combining History and Technology.

Neither typical collection of specimens, nor simple science centre, it merges and renovates different museum approaches and captivates everyone, by offering an exhibition itinerary fitting each visitor: from playful story-telling for the younger ones, to in-depth scientific learning for scholars.

MUSME’s Quarters

MUSME’s quarters themselves tell us about the extraordinary innovations of our past.

The Museum is set up in the 15th century building that used to house Padua’s first hospital, built in 1414 by husband and wife Baldo Bonafari and Sibilia de Cetto: the Hospital of Saint Francis the Greater. Remarkable features of this accomplishment of exclusively Paduan willingness were – besides the private funding – its laic origin and its positioning in the city centre, to provide for the health and assistance demands of the urban population.

It was in these rooms that – in the second half of the 16th century, for the first time ever – medicine students started to learn clinical practice directly on the patients’ bed, opening the way for the modern didactic approach within medicine. Saint Francis Hospital was active for nearly four centuries, until March 29th 1798, when it was replaced by a new hospital, upon the wish of Nicolò Giustiniani, then Bishop of Padua: Giustinianeo Hospital.

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The exhibition itinerary

Through ancient specimens, interactive showcases, multimedia games and videos, MUSME places the human body at the centre of a scientific and historical itinerary, articulated throughout different rooms on three floors facing the ancient cloister:

Two rooms dedicated to the history of the building and to the years of the Scientific Revolution:
- Room A – History of the former Saint Francis the Greater Hospital
- Room B – The University of Padua and the Scientific Revolution of the 15th century
Four rooms dedicated to the birth and development of modern medical sciences:
- Room C – Anatomy: How is the Human Body structured?
- Room D – Physiology: How does the Human Body work?
- Room E – Pathology: How does the Human Body malfunction?
- Room F – Therapeutics: How does the Human Body heal?
A big modern Anatomical Theatre
Two rooms for temporary exhibitions

The Vesalian Anatomical Theatre

The astonishing modern anatomical theatre: witness anatomy lectures for adults and children on an 8-metre-long human mannequin.

Around what children have nicknamed “the big guy”, eight nooks examine organs and apparatuses forming the human body, through ancient artefacts and 3D images:

Musculoskeletal system
Brain
Eye
Ear
Heart
Lungs
Digestive system
Obstetrics and gynaecology

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Forbidden not to touch!

MUSME gives you excellent guides!

Along the exhibition itinerary, the visitor can knock on big virtual doors opening on a human-size screen, where a few protagonists of the past introduce themselves and the topics of each room:

Sibilia de’ Cetto
Giovanni Battista da Monte
Galileo Galilei
Andreas Vesalius
Santorio Santorio
Giovanni Battista Morgagni
Prospero Alpini

Moreover:

Listen to the sounds of heart and lungs just like a real doctor
Observe microbes, bacteria and other pathogenic agents through a really innovative microscope
Feel the emotion of seeing your organs like in front of a real mirror
Browse through ancient volumes (with a little trick) without risking to ruin them

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MUSME: The Museum fitting all ages

MUSME’s Quarters

The exhibition itinerary

The Vesalian Anatomical Theatre

Forbidden not to touch!

Orari / Opening Hours