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 anatomi c structures with a physical immediacy not allowed by any other media. We e xamine the conceptual development of the anatomic model in light of the his tory of neuroanatomic understanding and coexistent artistic movements. The teaching anatomic model traces its ancestry to the work of Gaetano Zumb o in the late 17th century, on the heels of important anatomic discoveries made in the preceding 100 years of investigation. The anatomic model reache d its peak expression in the late 18th century with the founding of the cer oplastica laboratory in Florence. We discuss the technological, artistic, a nd scientific origins of the anatomic wax model and the conditions that all owed it to flourish in the late 18th century.