Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
La Specola Collection; Wax Anatomical Models
Image View:
Overall view, wax model in display case; partially "flayed" with one arm raised
Creator:
unknown (Italian cast maker)
Location:
repository: Museo Zoologico 'La Specola' (Florence, Tuscany, Italy)
Location Note:
Palazzo Torrigani, Via Romana 17
GPS:
43.764531 11.247342
Date:
ca. 1700-1799 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Eighteenth century
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
colored wax
Technique:
casting (process); modeling (forming)
Subjects:
human figure; scientific or medical; anatomy
Description:
The Museum of Zoology and Natural History, best known as La Specola, is an eclectic natural history museum in Florence, central Italy, located next to the Pitti Palace. The name Specola means observatory, a reference to the astronomical observatory founded there in 1790. Parts of the collection can be traced back to the Medici Family. It is known for its collection of wax anatomical models from the 18th century. The modeling of the soft parts of dissections, teaching illustrations of anatomy, was first practiced in Florence during the Renaissance. The practice of moulage, or the depiction of human anatomy and different diseases taken from directly casting from the body using (in the early period) gelatine moulds, later alginate or silicone moulds, used wax as its primary material. (Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Main_Page)
Collection:
Adjunct Module B: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A2-I-F-LSAC-A01
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

La Specola Collection; Wax Anatomical Models