In the year 2003, 475 anatomical plates and five lithographs used for teaching anatomy were found underneath the Anatomy Amphitheatre of the Universidad de Chile, where construction began in 1921. Many generations of students, even teachers of Basic Anatomy ignored their existence and the cultural importance of these plates. In an attempt to preserve the plates and lithographs, a digital record was created that year, of all the works in order to afford them their true value and importance, and ensure their future protection. The material was arranged by subject area by students, faculty members and outside individuals, as a mechanism to allow the teaching of anatomy at a time when slides and audiovisual digital material did not exist. They were made using different techniques such as precovered wrapped canvases, stored in specially prepared storage cabinets for their preservation in cold and dark environment, to avoid breakdown and ruin. Therefore, in order to prevent deterioration and allow their conservation, these works were digitalized and a catalogue created for the use of the next generations. This work was further underlined when on January 20, 2016, the State of Chile nominates these anatomical plates a National Monument, in its historical character.

KEY WORDS: Anatomical plates; Teaching anatomy; National monument.