Anatomical Wax Figures

Anatomical Wax Figures

Anatomical wax figures were used as a teaching aid between the mid 17th to 19th century. La Specola in Florence has an amazing collection of the figures. These wax figures have so much detail it’s astounding really. Individual veins and different levels of glossiness to different portions of the body just to name a few. The artists worked alongside the anatomists that were dissecting cadavers and were tasked with reproducing 3-dimensional anatomical models. These figures were created in order to teach students and to broaden the public’s understanding of what was under our skin as it was not common knowledge at that point and they were still making discoveries about the basic structures of the body. Previously the only real way to learn about the body in such a way was to actually observe the dissection of a cadaver, which at one point was taboo itself for religious reasons. 

Since these figures were used to broaden public knowledge of the human body they were constructed in a visually acceptable manner. All the figures are posted in such a way that you would expect a painter to pose a Venus in a reclined almost sensual positioning. Real hair was used for the long flowing locks on the scalp and the faces are very beautiful. Nothing like you would expect to see on an actual stiff cadaver with it’s guts spilling out.

You can see in this picture here how the artists crafted removable/interchangeable pieces for the figures in order to show the different layers of the human body. I can just imagine what an invaluable part these amazing artists played in educating the scientific and common community of the time. Something I also though about was our class conversation last week and how artists back in this time were regarded much higher in society than they are now.

What I found super interesting while researching anatomical wax figures is that Stanford’s school of medicine has actually been using these figures as learning supplements in the classroom! Totally crazy to me. One of Stanford’s associate professors of surgery Dr. Paul Brown was working at Stanford’s Florence campus and he came across La Specola’s expansive collection of anatomical wax figures. He was so struck by their detail and anatomical accuracy that he had money raised in order to photograph the wax figures 2-dimensionally and 3-dimensionally to be turned into virtual models for the classroom. It’s amazing to see these figures created by artists so long ago being used as a point of reference in one of the world’s most elite medical schools. 

Here is the link to a video in which Dr. Paul Brown discusses the anatomical wax figures of La Specola.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=60YtZikOcjQ

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NISAR - Post 6

NISAR When first learning about the NISAR mission I was more interested in learning about the applications of the satellite more than how the satellite works. Some specific things I am interested in are looking at forest resources, glacial melting and ground water levels. The condition of the earth has always been important to me and NISAR has provided me with specific information from which I can make art that addresses these issues. In my opinion, the information NISAR will provide will be crucial to scientists to study climate change and human impact on the environment. I have been inspired to try and make more people aware about the changes that are occurring and why we should care. Growing up spending a lot of time outdoors in forests, in the ocean, or on mountains has allowed me to develop a lot respect for our earth. It saddens me how quickly the Amazon is disappearing, as one example, and how unaware people are of the effects these changes will have. NISAR’s mission w...
Read more

Albrecht Dürer

Image
Albrecht D ü rer was a German painter and printmaker who greatly influenced the field of science during the Northern Renaissance. Although most people know D ü rer for his beautiful woodcut of Adam and Eve, he also produced many groundbreaking works in various mediums. He drafted the first perspective terrestrial maps, anatomical Rhinos, maps of the sky, the effects of syphilis, and more. Although D ü rer might not have been correct in all of his assumptions when creating art, his pieces help begin a shift in the way people visualized science and created a greater interest in the fields that he studied. At the time, D ü rer was known and respected as an equal in the field of science. With the mastery of perspective being so new, his visualizations of the earth gained him respect in his early twenties. He had to use geometry and complex thinking in order to achieve the dimensions that he was able to during that time. His artistic and storytelling flare made his work intriguing and ...
Read more

Blog #4 Second Trip to NASA

In the presentations by Paul Rosen and Tom Farr, I learned an incredible amount about water in California and its relationship to the drought. Mr. Rosen introduced the function of the upcoming satellite NISAR, which has a purpose of recording information about the earth’s land and ice surfaces. The satellite will send magnetic waves to the earth's surface to record its topographical features. The images will be taken on a regular cycle so that change in the earth’s surface can be closely recorded. It will measure things such as glacier melting or ground level changes, either from natural disasters, like earthquakes or sinking from water extraction. What I learned about water from the NISAR presentation was that the Central Valley of California is sinking. NISAR, among other things will measure these areas of land in California that have subsided. The satellite also has the capability to record internal changes in the earth's surface. Mr. Rosen showed us some visual represen...
Read more