Ercole Lelli Ercole Lelli Ercole Lelli (14 September 1702 – 7 March 1766) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque, active mainly in Northern Italy, including his native city of Bologna, as well as Padua and Piacenza. Lelli was a pupil of the painter Giovanni Pietro Zanotti, but he also gravitated towards sculptural work. He excelled in the study of the anatomy of the human body as well as painting. Starting in 1742 he helped prepare artistic anatomical wax displays at the University of Bologna. The wax modeler and anatomist Giovanni Manzolini worked as his assistant from 1743. Manzolini resigned in late
Anatomical Theatre of Padua temporary wooden anatomical theatre, which Benedetti himself used and supported. According to him, anatomy should have been able to make medicine a more evincible science. In fact, direct observation was becoming even more important than theoretical studies. In this stimulating atmosphere Andreas Vesalius, a Flemish anatomist, came to Padua (1537–38) and wrote "De humani corporis fabrica libri septem", in which he introduced the demonstrative method in Medicine. This implied an active involvement in studying anatomy, now based on the direct observation and verification of theories: henceforward, it became a habit for students not only to read books, but also to