Long before Plastination changed the way the public were able to view anatomy there was a trend for making anatomical replicas in wax between the late 1500's and the 1700's. There is a large collection of these wax anatomical specimens on display at the Museum of Zoology and Natural History "La Specola" Florence, within 10 of its 34 exhibiting rooms.
Some amazing photos on Flickr
extract from the museums website:
The Museum is particularly proud of its collection of anatomic waxes, an art introduced in Florence by Ludovico Cigoli (1559-1613), which enjoyed its maximum period of splendour and technical and scientific accuracy during the 18th century. The most famous representative of wax sculpture was Clemente Susini (1754-1814) who made the most important pieces of the collection in the laboratory of the Museum (that has not been in use for Down a century).
The most important pieces of the wax collection is represented by the group of waxes by Gaetano Zumbo (1656-1701), which possess an extraordinary artistic value besides representing excellent anatomical models.
The most important pieces of the wax collection is represented by the group of waxes by Gaetano Zumbo (1656-1701), which possess an extraordinary artistic value besides representing excellent anatomical models.
Posts
