[Historical outline of the Museum of Pathological Anatomy in Florence]

Abstract

The Museum of Pathological Anatomy, established in Florence in 1824, contains waxes of astounding beauty, almost photographic reproductions of the most common diseases in the 19th century. Work of eminent artists, such as L. Calamai (1796-1851) and E. Tortori (1829-1893), the wax models are extraordinary examples of the symbiosis between art and science, and served to instruct medical students in pathology without resorting to corpse dissection. The Museum also houses a vast collection of anatomical specimens, preserved in formalin and easy to investigate by means of modern molecular techniques for the study of the aetiology and pathomorphosis of diseases in relation to the profound modifications in the composition and socio-economic conditions of the resident Florentine population over the 19th and 20th centuries.