HISTORICAL HINTS
HISTORICAL HINTS4. XVIII Century. Theology and Natural Sciences
In 1772 Duke Francesco III understood that it was lime to give the University of Modena a new order which would adapt it to the changes of the times. The courses were divided into four categories: Theology, Law, The Arts and Philosophy and Medicine - with a total number of 30 Department Headships all held by scientists and scholars who had been called from various parts of Italy and abroad; the University Building was rebuilt from the foundations and is still in working order. This was begun by the Architect Tarabini and brought to completion using the design of Gian Francesco Zannini, a citizen of Modena. An Anatomy theatre was founded, directed by Antonio Scarpa, within the «Great Hospital »which the Duke himself had had built in 1758. A Botanical Garden was instituted and a Chemistry Laboratory prepared. The remaining years of the eighteenth century were excellent for our University which saw the arrival of teachers like the doctors Michele Rosa and Antonio Scarpa, the doctor and illustrious mathematician Paolo Ruffini, Roberto de Laugier for Chemistry and Botany, the Philosopher and scholar Agostino Paradisi, G. Battista Venturi for Physics and numerous others impossible to mention here.
