Anatomical machines of Raimondo di Sangro – truth and dark legend (9 photos + 1 video)

In glass cases in the basement of the Sansevero Chapel in Naples, Italy, are two unusual exhibits. Called anatomical machines, they are two skeletons, one male and one female.





Stretched over their bones is a complex labyrinth of veins, arteries, and capillaries that snake through their legs, arms, skull, and ribs. For centuries, rumors have circulated that the veins and arteries were real, and that the two men had been killed so that their circulatory systems would be preserved through some alchemical trick.



Sansevero Chapel

The figures were commissioned by Prince Raimondo di Sangro and executed by Giuseppe Salerno, an anatomist from Palermo, around 1763. Legend has it that Salerno, on the prince's orders, injected two of his servants with a mysterious embalming substance while they were still alive, which caused their blood to turn into metal, perfectly preserving their circulatory systems after death.





Raimondo di Sangro - Neapolitan nobleman, intellectual encyclopedist, builder of the Sansevero Chapel

In reality, the blood vessels were created using metal wire, colored wax and silk, but their reproduction is so accurate that even some modern scientists believe that experiments with injections on victims could have been carried out before the reconstruction.



If anyone was capable of such experiments, it was certainly Raimondo di Sangro. An alchemist and inventor, Sangro developed a method of mixing fireworks with various chemicals to produce a variety of colors: turquoise, citrus, yellow, orange, milky, and ruby. He organized pyrotechnic theaters where, using only fireworks, he created a variety of patterns and outlines of temples, architectural landscapes, huts, and fountains. His fireworks also produced whistling melodies reminiscent of birdsong.



One day in his laboratory, Sangro accidentally ignited a substance that burned continuously for over three months without the slightest loss of weight. Details about Sangro's "eternal lamp" are now lost, although he did say that it contained ground human bones. He was able to forge precious stones such as lapis lazuli, jasper, and even diamonds that were indistinguishable from the real thing. Sangro made a paste that, when hardened, looked like marble.



Of course, a man with such talent inevitably gave rise to rumors. It was said that Sangro could extract blood from dung, resurrect plants, insects, and small animals from ashes, and even kill people to use their bones and skin for experiments.



Part of the prince's mystique stemmed from superstitious rumors of murder and black magic, and part from the myths he himself spread. But both sources, positive and negative, are centered around one image - a gifted person. Perhaps this is most clearly seen in the legend of di Sangro's death, which tells that before his death he cut himself into pieces and put him in a chest. But the chest was opened too early, "when the body parts were still being welded." He came to for a moment, tried to get up, and then screamed and fell apart again.



The anatomical machines in the Sansevero Chapel originally contained a third skeleton - that of a fetus, located at the woman's feet. Next to it was even an open placenta, connected to the fetus by an umbilical cord. Unfortunately, the child was stolen in the 1990s.



And the creator of the anatomical machines clearly achieved his goal of not only researching but also surprising modern and future observers.