The University of Padua’s Sala dei Quaranta (The Hall of the Forty) holds the portraits of some of the greatest scientists, jurists, humanists, doctors, and anatomists who experienced Padua as foreign students or professors from the 13^th century onwards. Arriving from Portugal to the Bosphorus, the portraits are an example of those drawn to the University of Padua’s age-old ability to attract scholars from across the globe.

The book, Sala dei Quaranta, shares the history of the great hall and the forty portraits painted by Gian Giacomo dal Forno that have hung on its walls since 1942. Commissioned by Rector Carlo Anti, the portraits along with the décor furnished by Gio Ponti was part of the grandiose redevelopment and nobilitazione project of Palazzo Bo. The intention of the great hall was to celebrate the enduring international vocation of the University, as well as, according to the spirit of the time, to bring forth the civilizzatrice of the romanità.

Sala dei Quaranta
by Marta Nezzo and Francesco Piovan
FrancoAngeli
2022ISBN: 9788835136866