The building in question recalls important moments in the history of Moscow University. When it was founded by M.V. Lomonosov in 1755, the Medical Faculty became part of the university. Due to its practical focus, it quickly became the largest faculty at the university. In 1757, the estate of Prince Repnin on Mokhovaya was acquired for the university, where the Old University is now located. In the mid-1780s, under the guidance of M.F. Kazakov, a grand ensemble of Moscow University was built here, which suffered greatly during the Patriotic War of 1812 and was restored under the direction of D.I. Zhilyardi with the participation of A. Grigoriev in the Moscow Empire style.

The growth of the Medical Faculty led to its facilities being scattered across Moscow. In 1884 and 1895, under the guidance of the university's chief architect K.M. Bykovsky, a complex of the Clinical Town was built in Devichye Pole (now the First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov). In 1877, in anticipation of this construction, a new building for the Anatomical Department was erected in the depths of the block between Bolshaya Nikitskaya and Tverskaya streets, where the Old University is located. The project was designed by A.A. Nikiforov, the predecessor of K.M. Bykovsky, an engineer and architect who graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Civil Engineering and worked in Moscow and Yaroslavl.

A.A. Nikiforov actively worked in the Neo-Russian style, especially in church construction. His most famous structure is the Church of All Saints in the Novo-Alekseevsky Monastery in Krasnoe Selo. The new Anatomical building, a two-story structure with a basement, was functionally designed by Nikiforov. The facades are adorned with rusticated pilasters, and the windows are framed with architraves. Above the entrance on the northeast facade is a rounded pediment. The building has changed its purpose multiple times, and its layout has significantly altered from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. In 2011, it was restored and adapted for modern use.