Official journal of the International Society Revue officielle de la ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Vesalius, VI, 2, 130-132, 2000the first director of «La Specola», capitalized onthis aversion by pointing out that the wax models,once made, will obviate any further need fordissection. The Grand Duke purchased a blockof houses on Via Romana and provided thenecessary funds for materials and personnel.ExhibitsAt present, there are twenty whole-bodymodels, one skeleton, one torso and onedisassembled body «Venus», which has removableparts to show the succession of theorgans inside the human female, including afetus. In addition, there are 473 wooden plaqueswith one or more wax models arranged asa group (4). Each of the wooden plaques isenclosed in a glass case. Often there is anadjoining illustration, usually a water-colorrendition of the actual model, with leader linesand numbers at the end of the line. The flatdrawers at the bottom of the glass case containone or more sheets with the numbers and thelegend, i.e. the name of the structure, theattachments and function of the muscles, thenerve supply, and other details. The models,located in eight rooms, are grouped by regionsor systems.Fontana envisaged that the collection wouldtake the place, to a large extent, of a treatise onanatomy and the dissection of a body. Hedesigned this method of displaying and labellingthe models so that the collection could be usedas a teaching aid even in the absence of ateacher or guide. A harbinger of our present dayself-study methods, it is unfortunate that modelsof such high quality are so under utilized. Theywould make ideal study specimens for studentsof health sciences who do not have access tocadaver material.Small wax modelsIn addition to the life-size models there areseven small-scale models, approximately 75cm. high, mainly showing various layers of themuscles of the body. Four of these modelscorrespond very closely to four of the life-sizemodels. There are similar small models at theWellcome Museum of the History of Medicine, apart of the Science Museum in South Kensingtonin London. It is deduced that the Londonmodels, made prior to 1775, were precursors ofthe small models at «La Specola» whichpreceded the life-size models at «La Specola».Dating of the modelsEven before the first dissector was hired atthe end of 1772 there were several modelsextant. Around 1772, in the Palazzo Pitti, weresix rooms with anatomical models (2). The largemodels date from 1782 and after. Based on theinscriptions on the base of some of the modelsand biographical sleuthing, it can be deducedthat the models were made between 1775 and1785. Obviously, the early models were basednot on dissection but on some anatomicaltreatise. Detailed study of the models shows thatthey were modelled on the anatomical workTabulae SceletietMusculorum Corporis Humani(1747) by Bernard Sigfried Albinus (6). In turn,Albinus' work could be traced back to that ofBartolomeo Eustachio (1520-1574)(5). Of theforty-seven anatomical plates to be publishedas De dissensionibus ac controversis anatomicisby Eustachio (7), thirty-nine plates were lost anddid not come to light till 150 years later. Whenfound they were published as Tabulaeanatomicae in 1714 (8).Copies - a measure of excellenceCopies of specimens in «LaSpecola», alongwith some originals, exist or did exist in suchdiverse places as London, Vienna, Leiden, Budapest,Montpellier and even in the new world atNew Orleans (Louisiana). In addition they arefound in the departments of anatomy at Cagliari,Padua and Bologna.131
Vesalius, VI, 2, 130-132, 2000The best accolades for the Florentine modelsare the comments of contemporaries (9), whosejudgements were made before the collectionacquired the halo of time.«The beauty of the work, united withscrupulous accuracy and precision ...»Antonio Scarpa, anatomist (1786).«Not only... supreme elegance and clarity,but also they are put together with completeaccuracy, according to nature itself...»Adolph Murray, Prof, of Anatomy, Uppsala,Sweden (1780).«... where science and art, taste and technique,all live together and function in completeharmony.»von Goethe (1857).This may probably be the highest complimentto the wax models and the intellectualclimate of Florence .If, after «La Specola» one is still unsatiatedthere are the obstetrical models at the History ofScience Museum on the banks of the Arno, orthose atthe Medical School in Carregi. But insteadof overloading on waxes one should probably sitat a bar with a cup of cappuccino and reflect overthe fascinating collection just seen.References1. Bucci.M. (1969), Anatomiacome Arte. lied. D'ArteII Fiorino, Firenze.2. Azzaroli, M. (1977), La Specola the Zoologicalmuseum of Florence University. Rivista di Storiadelle scienze mediche e naturali, Firenze, XX:1 -27.3. Martelli, A. (1977), La nascita del reale gabinetto difisica e storia naturale de Firenze e I'anatomia incera e legno di Felici Fontana. Rivista di Storia dellescienze mediche e naturali, Firenze, XX:103-133.4. Lanza, B., Azzaroli Puccetti, M. Pogesi and A.Martelli (1979), Le Cere Anatomiche della Specola.Arnaud, Firenze.5. Hilloowala, R., B. Lanza, Azzaroli Puccetti, M.Pogesi and A. Martelli (1995), The AnatomicalWaxes of «La Specola». Arnaud, Firenze.6. Hilloowala, R. and J. Renahan, (1985), XVIII CenturyAnatomical Models at «La Specola», Florence.Anat. Anz., Jena 159:141-158.7. O'MalleyC. (1971) Eustachi Bartolomeo. Dictionaryof Scientific Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons;New York, 4:486-488.8. Bilancioni, G. (1913) Bartolomeo Eustachi. IstitutoMicrografico Italiano, Firenze.9. Knoefel, P. (1978), Florentine anatomical modelsin wax and wood. Medicina nei Secoli, Roma,XV:329-340.SummaryAt 17 Via Romana in the Oltramo section ofFlorence are housed, in the Natural History Museum(«La Specola»), some of the most interestinganatomical models made in the late eighteenthcentury. In the last two centuries, these modelshave not been surpassed in their true-to-lifeappearance. The anatomical source for thesemodels is the work of Bernard Siegfried Albinus(1697-1770) and even earlier BartolomeoEustachio (1520-1574). The models are littleknown to health professionals including historians.Time consuming as museum visits are in Florence,it behoves a student of medical history tospend some time at «La Specola».BiographyFturny HilloowalaDept. of anatomy, West Virginia Univ.Health Sciences N.Morgantown, WV 26506, U.S.A.Dr. Rumy Hilloowala is a Professor of Anatomy atWest Virginia Health Sciences Center. His researchinterest is in post-natal craniofacial anatomy and thehistory of anatomy especially as it relates to art. Theperiod of interest being from the Greeks to the Renaissance.AcknowledgementThe author acknowledges the assistance of ProfessorEmeritus Joseph Renahan, Department of ForeignLanguages, West Virginia University in the course ofinvestigation of this topic.132
Page 1 and 2: Official journal of the Internation
Page 3 and 4: Editorial, Vesalius, VI, 2, 82, 200
Page 5 and 6: M. Aleman and J. Locke, two frustra
Page 11 and 12: J.J. Virey et la naissance de la ch
Page 21 and 22: Oriental medical manuscripts in Uzb
Page 27 and 28: M.-A. Paulze, épouse et collaborat
Page 35 and 36: Physiology at the University of Tur
Page 41 and 42: La collection Léo-Errol Pariseau,
Page 47 and 48: La collection Hiram Winnet Orr, Ves
Page 49 and 50: La collection Hiram Winnet Orr, Ves
Page 51: Vesalius, VI, 2, 130-132, 2000Place
Page 55 and 56: Vesalius, VI, 2, 133-135, 2000Finan
Page 57 and 58: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000Compt
Page 59 and 60: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000chang
Page 61 and 62: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000Il y
Page 63 and 64: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 20006. Ra
Page 65 and 66: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000les c
Page 67 and 68: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000Grèc
Page 69 and 70: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000et l'
Page 71 and 72: Vesalius, VI, 2, 136-150, 2000Disco
Page 73 and 74: Vesalius, VI, 2, 151-154, 2000unive
Page 75 and 76: Vesalius, VI, 2,151-154, 2000Sleim
Page 77 and 78: Vesalius, VI, 2, 156, 2000Informati
Page 79 and 80: Vesalius, VI, 2,157-159, 20008-14 J
Page 81 and 82: Vesalius, VI, 2,160, 2000Applicatio

Official journal of the International Society Revue officielle de la ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?