[Florentine wax sculptures of the urogenital tract. A specialty of the eighteenth century]

Abstract

Florentine wax sculptures of human anatomy in general and of the urogenital tract in particular constitute an iconographic specialty of the eighteenth century. In the Age of Enlightenment research and representation of the human organism also met with broad interest. To counteract the lack of preservation possibilities and the resulting time restrictions, wax was used to fabricate lifelike human models. Here, the cooperation between anatomist and wax sculptor was of essential importance. The art of anatomical wax sculpturing was cultivated especially in Bologna and Florence at the end of the seventeenth as well as in the eighteenth century. In Florence the Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History ("La Specola") that still exists today including a ceroplastic workshop was founded in 1775. Its macroscopically exact models of the urogenital tract - real art treasures and definitely still usable as teaching material - make an enormously authentic impression on the viewer and captivate physicians and historians alike.