The development of anatomic art and sciences: the ceroplastica anatomic models of La Specola

Anatomic models are important heuristic aids for surgeons in training. They are uniquely able to convey the three-dimensional relationships of anatomic structures with a physical immediacy not allowed by any other media. We examine the conceptual development of the anatomic model in light of the history of neuroanatomic understanding and coexistent artistic movements. The teaching anatomic model traces its ancestry to the work of Gaetano Zumbo in the late 17th century, on the heels of important anatomic discoveries made in the preceding 100 years of investigation. The anatomic model reached its peak expression in the late 18th century with the founding of the ceroplastica laboratory in Florence. We discuss the technological, artistic, and scientific origins of the anatomic wax model and the conditions that allowed it to flourish in the late 18th century.