The Anatomia Universa (1823) of Paolo Mascagni (1755–1815): The memory of a masterpiece in the history of anatomy after two centuries

Two hundred years ago, the first of the nine volumes of Paolo Mascagni’s Anatomia universa was published posthumously. This work was the fruit of a project that preoccupied Mascagni for most of his life: the Atlas of anatomy, which was the perfect replica on paper of the dissection, a fundamental part of the teaching of this discipline. Mascagni’s treatises testify to the modernity of his approach to medical education, and his deep conviction that the main objective was to educate young people and to enable them to acquire the most perfect knowledge of the structure of the human body.