The rediscovered unknown “small Ruijsch collection” of dry and wet anatomical specimens

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Peter the Great (1672–1725) – the Russian emperor travelled through Europe during the so-called “Great Embassies” to acquire knowledge in the field of science and industrial production. In Amsterdam (Netherlands), he received as a gift from Frederik Ruijsch samples of dried and wet anatomical specimens, consisting of objects of both natural history and human origin, and currently called the “small collection”. The anatomical part of the collection consisted of 11 dry and 13 wet specimens, parts of the human body. The authors rediscovered this collection in 2016 among the exhibits of the fundamental museum of the department of normal anatomy of the Military Medical Academy (St. Petersburg, Russia). In the article we describe the current state of this historical collection, which played an important role in the acquisition of a more extensive collection by Peter the Great from Ruysch for the Kunstkamera (Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of Peter the Great in St. Petersburg). The Kunstkamera collection is open to the general public, and as a result is well known through publications in literature. On the contrary, the so-called “small collection” was, from the moment of its arrival in Russia in 1698, in the personal possession of Peter the Great. He later divided his small collection for educational purposes between the Aptekerskii Prikaz and the medical school of Nicolaas Bidloo. Around 1800, both parts of the small collection were reunited and transferred to the Medical-Surgical Academy. Today, this collection still serves educational purposes, but is not widely available to the general public. As a result, it remains virtually unknown.