Human anatomy in wax during Florentine enlightenment.

The high mortality rate of mothers and children during delivery was not taken into consideration by science before the end of the XVII Century; gynaecology became an official discipline in the Schools of Medicine at the beginning of the next century. The knowledge of anatomy was fundamental for doctors but human cadavers were still difficult to obtain; thus the need of models for the teaching. Anatomical models were obtained by injection of salts and alcohol on bodies or part of bodies: the procedure was difficult and the preparation did not last for a long time. Models in wax proved to be scientifically reliable, and everlasting. Schools of anatomical wax modelling were established in Italy: first in Bologna and later in Florence at the Museum "La Specola", a laboratory which soon became famous all through Europe. Description follows of the technique and the material used for the construction of the models; the scientists and the workers in the laboratory. Short notes on Felice Fontana, Paolo Mascagni, Giuseppe Galletti, Clemente Susini, Luigi Calamai, Egisto Tortori. A last chapter is devoted to the XVII Century Sicilian wax modeller Gaetano Giulio Zumbo, mainly renouned for the "Plague waxes" and some anatomical heads: most of his works are exhibited in the Museum La Specola in Florence.