When I first found out about the Specola Museum in Florence it was a great revelation, and felt like a missing puzzle piece had finally been found. Some years ago I purchased the Taschen book ‘Encyclopedia Anatomica’, a beautiful publication filled with amazing images of anatomical, medical waxworks. I bought the book after visiting the Montpellier Museum of Anatomy in 2018 and struggling hugely with the fact that photography was forbidden within the great hall. These images were eventually to be my memento to a place I had waited years to visit and would probably never see again.
Fast forward a number of years and I’m informed about the Specola and it’s incredible collection of anatomical waxworks, Immediately I thought of Montpellier and my book. I rushed to look at it for reference, and to my utter surprise the vast majority of the images within its pages were actually taken at the Specola! I had never realised this amazing fact, but as soon as I did I knew I must visit the Specola.
Sadly it turned out the Specola was closed and had been for a number of years, and nobody seemed to know if it would ever reopen at all. Patience was all I had. Fortunately in spring 2024, the moment I thought would never come did! And the Specola Museum reopened to the public after much refurbishment, and of course Covid.
I took the opportunity during my very next trip to Florence to visit the Specola, in particular their anatomical waxworks.
Accessible by private tour only, the rooms of the collection are not open as part of general access to the museum, so if you’re hoping to visit then plan ahead. Booking isn’t possible and only a limited number of tours and spaces are up for grabs each day so don’t leave it to chance! I went to the museum at opening time to book on a tour later that day, and during our tour people were being turned away who hadn't taken the same precaution, so its definitely a good piece of advice.
Arriving early to take in some of the other sights of the museum before the last tour of the day, there is an incredible wealth of delights on display. A huge collection of minerals and gems from all over the world, an amazing taxidermy collection with some truly fascinating specimens on display and an incredibly unique display of wax dioramas, ranging from the cellular structures of plants to moral scenes of death, decay and sin. But each of these captivating sections of the Specola deserve their very own blog. But this blog is devoted to that macabre wonder of the anatomical waxworks ...
La Specola is the oldest scientific museum in the world. And when it comes to the wax works this museum is so rightly famed for, science is the name of the game. The anatomical diorama on display were commissioned as aids for teaching medicine in the 18th and 19th century. The detail in these models is absolutely unparalleled, with every vein, muscle and tendon crafted with loving accuracy. The grizzly reality of achieving this is that hundreds of bodies had to be dissected and observed to create just one model. And some models were even built up around bones to ensure accuracy.
The techniques used to create these intricate wax models are all but lost today. A skill so specific, but also groundbreaking, that it was seemingly developed and extinguished in the blink of an eye. This unfortunately means that conservation on the models is difficult, if nigh on impossible.
The goal of the groundbreaking Florentine school of wax was to end the necessity for cadaver use and dissection when teaching anatomy to medical students. To essentially replace corpses with these wax teaching aids, as many of them as could be created. The visionary whose brainchild this was, Felice Fontana, had the patronage and support of the Grand Duke in his mission. Before long the specimens created could be found across Europe, and indeed the vast collection at the Montpellier Conservatory of Anatomy were actually created at the Specola (my Italian is by no means good, but good enough to understand when the guide told us this and I thought 'Of course they were!')
Today we are left a legacy of carefully crafted creations which could never fail to provoke response in those fortunate enough to visit. At times harrowing, shocking, distressing, but also thought provoking. Morality (and the future of ones soul) and Memento Mori were great themes and obsession of the 18th century across Europe. And whether intentional or not, these wax models are imbued with that in every fibre of their creation. To stare at tangles of tissue, bundles of nerves and networks of veins strewn across bone and muscle, the contemplation of ones own physical presence and fragile physiology cant help but surface in the mind.
La Specola is a fascinating place where you'd be forgiven for thinking time had stood still. The entire aesthetic is a snapshot of the time which caused the creation of these models. When precision, craftsmanship and excellence were valued above all. Hauntingly beautiful models are housed in fine traditional wooden and glass cabinets, where the ageing glass hints at the years these displays have seen. And occasional white curled wigs starkly remind us the dead faces we observe through the mists of time were Georgian folk, condemned to the immortal legacy of being a waxwork. While a noble intent, but all the same a less than noble end for the soul we see before us.
The detailed drawings filling the walls made me wish I could afford the luxury of time in this incredible place. As an artist the possibilities are endless, as Felice Fontana truly intended.
To find out more info and plan your visit to La Specola click here!
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