Specola Museum

Yesterday I visited the Specola Museum in Florence, Italy. It is a part of the University of Florence and was founded in the late 18th century. What I was particularly interested in seeing, besides their collection of stuffed animals, was their incredible human anatomy wax models. I had heard the reputation of these wax models being one of the finest in the world, but actually seeing them in person was something very special. They surpassed my expectations. They are incredibly realistic in colors, shapes and textures; a perfect fusion of art and science. The number of wax models they house in the building is also astounding. But there is something else that really fascinated me. Beyond aesthetics, there is a strong sense of morbid fascination about playing with the image of mortality and juxtaposing it right up against the image of "life". Many wax models were constructed in a way that their internal anatomical depictions are displayed in the curious combination with seemingly still "alive" bodies instead of clearly dead cadaver-looking bodies. Even the ones that are completely stripped off their skins and showing all their internal organs still look "alive" and make you wonder if they might be still experiencing this eternal pain. This effect becomes the greatest when you see the life-sized full-body female wax model with all her internal organs pulled out for the world to see, yet she still looks pretty much alive with a dreamy, almost ecstatic, expression on her face. It is very interesting to ponder upon the 18th century minds that embarked on this immense project and put it together in the way they did.

In this, I see something similar to the theme of Bernini's sculpture "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa". The meeting of earthly matter and spirituality is presented in these wax models just as it was in Bernini's famous sculpture, only from a scientific/medical perspective. It would be meaningful to note that this museum was founded at the tail end of the enlightenment (1790) and it is not too difficult to imagine that the same type of zeitgeist which dreamed of connecting science and faith was also driving this project forward.