They say that learning its arrangement is like learning the road map of an entire country. It has for centuries been the site of the most concentrated human enquiry, and while many of its mysteries have been solved, it continues to fascinate, provoke and disturb. An understanding of the anatomy of the human body remains the foundation of medical science. It has intrigued everyone from the Greeks through to Leonardo da Vincl. And it fascinated the curious of the 18th century. Witness the eccentric Museo La Specola in Florence, a waxworks celebration of the interior. With 27 wax bodies and 1500 part and organ studies, collected by Peter Leopold von Lothringen from places as diverse as churches, hospitals and universities, this is a veritable cathedral to the human form. Whether it be the skeleton or vein structures, organs or nerves, arteries or the complexities of the skin, all are here reproduced in extraordinary detail. With the added benefit of a commentary from the modern perspective, this enormous book merely represents its vast subject. There are reasons why certain historical investigations become definitive in their field. The passage of time does not see them bettered. The wax anatomies of Museo La Specola remain one such case. Madame Tussaud's this isn't. Take a look behind the scenes.
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About the Author:
Monika von During is Professor of Neuroanatomy at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany. Her brief medical explanations help to guide both lay-reader and medical expert through this graphic encyclopaedia of anatomy. Marta Poggesi is a biologist, and has been curator of the Museo Zoologico La Specola since 1969. Parallel to research projects, she manages and catalogues the zoological collection, to which the anatomical wax bodies and parts belong. Georges Didi-Huberman is professor at the College of Social Sciences in Paris. His contribution underscores the tension inherent in this collection: between religious votive wax figures, mannerist art and wonder chambers and the Enlightenment.
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- PublisherTaschen America Llc
- Publication date2004
- ISBN 10 3822838489
- ISBN 13 9783822838488
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages704
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