Hall of Medicine

Many rooms in the Bo Palace also still retain evidence of the site’s early origins, such as the Hall of

Medicine, which used to be a floor of the royal palace belonging to the Papafava da Carrara, an

aristocratic family related to the Lords of Padua. From the sixteenth century, the Hall served as a

classroom for the Faculty of Medicine, where, in honor of the room’s history, graduation

ceremonies for medical students are now held today. Developments in the history of the medicine

made at the University of Padua are well documented in the Hall; we see them in the portraits, hung

on the wall and dating back to the eighteenth century, of well-known professors of Padua, as well as

in the two frescoes painted by Achille Funi in 1942, Anatomie and La Fama che scrive nel libro

della Storia il nome di Morgagni (Fame writing Morgagni’s name in the Book of History), the latter

depicting Morgagni, the “prince” of anatomy. The Hall also features designs by Gio Ponti, whose

aesthetic recalls and honors the history of the room.