Giovanni Manzolini Giovanni Manzolini Giovanni Manzolini (1700-1755) was a Bolognese artist, an expert maker of wax anatomical models and a professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna. His wife Anna Morandi Manzolini also became a well-known maker of wax anatomical models. Giovanni Manzolini was born in 1700 in Bologna, the son of a shoemaker. As a young man he helped his father in his trade. In 1736 he married Anna Morandi (1716-1774), whom he had known since childhood. His wife had been trained as an artist. They were to have six children before 1755, although four died before reaching adulthood. Deciding
Anna Morandi Manzolini children. In 1755, her husband died, and she was left with very slender means of support. She received tempting offers from other universities, but she preferred to remain in her native city, Bologna. She closed a laborious and honored life in the city in 1774, at the age of 60 years. When her husband became ill with tuberculosis, she received special permission to lecture in his place. She became professor of anatomy upon his death in 1755. Knowledge of her talent in molding anatomical models spread throughout Europe and she was invited to the court of Catherine II of Russia