University History Museum, University of Pavia

History

The origin of the museum could be traced back to the end of the 18th century during the age of enlightenment era, when empress Maria Theresa of Austria ordered the reformation of the university teachings and structures. A Teaching Plan (Italian: Piano Didattico) and a Scientific Plan (Italian: Piano Scientifico) were approved by the Magistrate of the General Studies in 1771 and 1773, respectively. These plans regulated students' access to faculties and encouraged initiatives to invite prominent scholars to teach in the university. For this purpose, new structures were created — library, anatomical theater, physics theater, natural history museum, chemistry laboratory, botanical garden and cabinets anatomy and experimental physics. In 1783, when Antonio Scarpa took up his chair in Pavia, he ordered a construction of a modern anatomy theatre where performed dissections could be witnessed by others. The museum was set up next to this theatre.

In 1929, after an exhibition in Florence which displayed some artifacts from the university's collection, the university decided to open its own museum of history. In 1932, the museum was founded to accommodate the items which were kept in the Palazzo Botta Adorno, on the exhibition on the first anniversary of the death of Antonio Scarpa, founder of the Anatomical School of Pavia. The exhibition was organized by Antonio Pensa, president of the Fourth National Congress of Anatomy and Professor of Human Anatomy at the University of Pavia. It revolved around the collection of items from Antonio Scarpa — autographs and writings, anatomical preparations by Scarpa and other anatomists as Giacomo Rezia and Bartolomeo Panizza, which were preserved in the Anatomical Museum for a century until it was moved to Palazzo Botta Adorno in 1902.

The current museum was officially opened in 1936 and gradually expanded over the years, thanks to donations from the heirs of Golgi, which included his manuscripts, notes for lectures and especially, the original certificate of the Nobel Prize he won in 1906. During the war, the museum was closed in order to keep the collections safe, but after 1945, it was reopened and new items were continued to be added to its collections. …

Collections

The museum is divided into two sections:

The origin of the physics collection dates back to the old Physics Laboratory, founded in 1771 during the reformation by Maria Theresa. The Physics Theater (now Aula Volta) and a tower for meteorological observations were subsequently annexed to the museum. In 1778, Alessandro Volta was appointed as a professor of Experimental Physics and he had been slowly adding numerous instruments purchased during his European travels to the collection. He also added instruments which he had conceived and created with the help of skilled artisans.

Many tools were used by Volta during public exhibitions, held twice a week from December to June. In addition to the students (whom he taught daily), numerous spectators (...usually more than 200, according to his writing, Opere, Appendice XXII). The collection was enriched by Giuseppe Belli (museum director from 1842 to 1860) with his own instruments, and by Giovanni Cantoni (museum from 1860 to 1893). An inventory drawn up shortly after his death described more than 2,000 pieces of instruments. Unfortunately, some of these instruments were either destroyed in the fire at the exhibition pavilion in 1899 at Como, during the centennial celebration of the collection or were lost in removals over the years, the last of which was due to the Second World War. The remaining 1,000 pieces were now kept in this section.

This section is divided into two rooms — Gabinetto di Volta, which was inaugurated on 20 March 1999 during the bicentennial celebration of the collection, and Gabinetto di Fisica dell'Ottocento.

The section hosts a number of collections of instruments used by Alessandro Volta during his tenure in the University of Pavia. Two work tables, which he used, host numerous instruments he used to investigate the properties of an electrical charge — electrophores, gold-leaf electroscope, condensing electroscope, electrometers, conductors and capacitors in various sizes and shapes. The collection also includes several Leyden jars, Nairne's electrostatic generator, eudiometers, Volta's pistol and a device to study gas expansions. …