Inventing the Human body : Anatomical Wax Models of the Specola Museum at 18th Century

CONTENTS PLUS ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 53-65
Author(s):  
Byung Jin Choi ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Wax Models

scholarly journals Cadaver Imitations used in Anatomical Demonstrations: Wax Modelling in the 18th Century

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 11-24
Author(s):  
Réka Krizbai ◽  
Judit Forrai
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Anatomical Models ◽  
General Rules ◽  
Comprehensive Manner ◽  
High Level ◽  
Wax Models ◽  
Gender Features

The use of wax models has a long history associated with various connotations and practices. For centuries, models were predominantly of votive and devotional nature until the birth of anatomical wax modelling of the 18th century, when wax gained pre-eminently scientific connotations, parallel with all earlier practices. In this period, wax was found very suitable for scientific demonstrations by its plasticity through high level of naturalistic imitation. This is why it was chosen for manufacturing anatomical models, which showed contemporary knowledge about the human body in a comprehensive manner. The first centres of anatomical wax model production were established in Bologna, and then in Florence. Although such models were produced in other European countries, these two studios, especially the Florentine one, preserved its dominance, and exported models outside of Italy too. Yet there were general rules and manufactural techniques in some principles the studios showed different approaches in modelling. The Anatomical Venus, a specific genre of anatomical wax models, offered a valuable insight of reflections about contemporary ideas of female body, gender features and various connotations in a single wax object.

Charles Bell (1774–1842) and Natural Theology

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-82
Author(s):  
Sean Hughes ◽  
Christopher Gardner-Thorpe
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
The World ◽  
William Paley

Sir Charles Bell, a 19th century surgeon, anatomist and artist, was heavily influenced by the religious practice of Natural Theology, a belief which implied that the world is created by an Intelligent Designer. In the 18th century, William Paley, later Rector of Bishop Wearmouth, wrote the seminal book about Natural Theology. Charles Bell who practised in London and Edinburgh used his artistic skills to underline his teaching of anatomy and surgery. Later, Bell wrote one of the eight Bridgewater Treatises on the Hand. Bell went on to illustrate the final edition of Paley’s Natural Theology in which he demonstrated that proof of Design were to be found in the animal frame, reflecting his earlier work on art and human structure. It is concluded that Charles Bell and William Paley’s ideals were in harmony with each other, holding the same belief about Creation. This paper argues that Bell’s understanding and devotion to Natural Theology allowed him to accurately explain function, realism and expression in the human body, all revealing the direct influence of the Divine Creator.

Lumen in obscuris: The Winding Road of Modern Endoscopy

Nuncius ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Pogliano
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Alimentary Canal ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Medical Gaze

AbstractThe historical process leading to the recent invention of endoscopic capsules that are swallowed and travel through the alimentary canal, or to virtual voyages inside the human body one of the last amazing digital technologies has been long and winding. This essay seeks to retrace some steps of that process, since the second half of the 18th century. Numerous medical practitioners, technicians, and instrument makers aimed to explore inner body parts and interspaces by means of the sense of sight. In the mid-19th century Endoscope was called the instrument that would allow to bring light into unknown recesses and visualize them; urethra and bladder were the organs at first investigated, but soon the medical gaze proceeded to penetrate the esophagus and the stomach, not without several obstacles to be overcome.

scholarly journals FROM THE MONARCHY TREE TO NATION: THE USE OF METAPHORS IN EARLY MODERN FRENCH POLITICAL DISCOURSE

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68
Author(s):  
Ludmila Pimenova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
French Revolution ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Social ◽  
Body Metaphor ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
The Republic

The article examines three legal treatises written between the late 16th and late 18th centuries, whose authors used the language of metaphors, analyzing also the way this language was reflected in images. Both jurists and artists tried to demonstrate to their readers and spectators that society was unified and, at the same time, consisted of estates unequal in their status. For this purpose, metaphors of the human body, tree, army, and family were used. Over the period under discussion, the attitude towards metaphors changed significantly. Although the possibility of using the language of metaphors to adequately describe and know society was put into doubt more than once in the 17th and 18th centuries, contemporaries did not abandon this language. In the 18th century, many of the usual metaphors were rethought in Enlightenment literature, as well as in journalism and propaganda texts published on the eve of the French Revolution. The body metaphor received a new interpretation within the framework of the social contract concept, while the image of France as the king’s spouse was transformed into the figure of Marianne the Republic.

scholarly journals Ophthalmologic wax models as an educational tool for 18th-century vision scientists

2017 ◽  
Vol 95 (8) ◽  
pp. 852-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Zampieri ◽  
Francesco Comacchio ◽  
Alberto Zanatta
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Educational Tool ◽  
Wax Models

scholarly journals The rotten, the disembowelled woman, the skinned man. Body images from Eighteenth century Florentine wax modelling

2005 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. A01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Paolo de Ceglia
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Body Images ◽  
Communication Models ◽  
Wax Models

Florence's La Specola Museum stirs up strong emotions. Among its collections, the valuable anatomical wax models created between the end of 17th and the beginning of 18th century stand out owing to their marvellous and provocative nature. The aim of this essay is to analyse the communication models epitomised by some of these works by means of historical semiotics, to nourish the widespread, but often underestimated assumption that science and the means used to spread it have always been influenced by intellectual suppositions and constantly interact with contemporary culture.

scholarly journals Philosophy in Images: Analogies in Diderot’s D’Alembert’s Dream

KÜLÖNBSÉG ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dóra Székesi
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Scientific Texts ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
Philosophical Texts ◽  
Unique Style ◽  
Rhetorical Tropes ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Necessary Connections ◽  
Century Literature

In the 18th century literature and the sciences were considered complementary to each other. The Encyclopaedia’s entries explain that sciences help the improvement of literature, while science is made enjoyable by literature. Similarly, Diderot explains that philosophy, literature and the sciences assist each other. Diderot’s materialist philosophy of nature holds that nature has never been and will never be the same as one sees it in the present because the material of the Universe is always in motion. Therefore it is not sufficient to contemplate what is given in nature but all its possible versions should be accounted for. One can reveal necessary connections in nature by relying on one’s imagination, observations and suppositions. Diderot often reflects on the problem of the language of philosophy, and he uses many images in his philosophical texts that create his unique style. Senguin claims Diderot has created “the philosophy of images.” The paper names these images “analogies” and defines analogy as one version of the simile. The paper argues that Diderot relies on analogies to describe processes of the human body, and that these analogies function to trigger the imagination of the reader. Diderot’s use of rhetorical tropes in philosophical and scientific texts were often criticized by his contemporaries, as there was no sufficient vocabulary to describe this style at the time. The paper claims that the analysis of how literary, philosophical, and scientific discourses interact in texts of the 18th century shows what the contemporary debate on style was about.

Illustrations of the anatomical wax model collection in the “La Specola” Zoology Museum, Florence

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lotti ◽  
A. Altobelli ◽  
S. Bambi ◽  
M. Poggesi
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Analytical Model ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Comparative Anatomy ◽  
Composite Model ◽  
Human Anatomy ◽  
Model Description ◽  
Anatomical Illustration ◽  
High Level ◽  
Wax Models

Anatomical illustration has evolved through the centuries, first having artistic and educational purposes and later more strictly medical objectives. Between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries, the analytical model (representation of individual parts, organs and systems) gave way to the composite model (description of the human body as a whole). Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was a reversal of tendency: initially the anatomist requested the help of artists, but later the artist asked anatomists to check the accuracy of his work. In this way, anatomical illustration reached a high level of precision. This period also saw the creation of the “La Specola” Zoology Museum's collection of anatomical wax models. Initiated in the eighteenth century, it also included a series of contemporary colour illustrations executed by various artists. Most of the illustrations concern human anatomy, while a small number deal with comparative anatomy. These illustrations, each accompanied by one or more explanatory sheets, were produced to help explain the corresponding wax models. The anatomical wax model collection has been well preserved through the centuries, maintaining its ancient splendour, and it is the object of continuing research and restoration interventions.

scholarly journals To the issues of history and formalization of the concept of anesthesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-9
Author(s):  
V. I. Poberezhny ◽  
A. S. Logvinov ◽  
D. V. Dmytriiev
Keyword(s):  
General Anesthesia ◽  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Intensive Therapy ◽  
Perioperative Period ◽  
Prophylactic Measures ◽  
Physiologically Based ◽  
Psychoemotional State ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Improved Methods

Anesthesiology as a science has passed a long way of development. The empirical period begins with the moment when people realize that they can reduce pain and get rid of it. Real prerequisites for the development of effective methods of anesthesia began to take shape at the end of the 18th century. It conditioned the emergence of a second (pre-scientific) period of development of anesthesiology. The active use of anesthesia in surgery led to special training for anesthesia. Improved methods of general anesthesia, developed methods for replacing and managing the functions of vital organs and the organism as a whole, scientific discoveries and systematization of the results of scientific research formed the basis for the formation of anesthesiology and intensive therapy as a separate scientific and practical discipline. The concept of “anesthesia” was introduced in the scientific professional language – a physiologically based, combined and multicomponent, selectively directed and balanced set of therapeutic and prophylactic measures aimed at optimizing the algorithm for performing physiological functions of the human body during the perioperative period of the surgical method of treatment or in the procedure followed by the formation and development of the phenomenon of pain. Its components: 1) modulation of the psychoemotional state; 2) modulation of the neurovegetative state; 3) analgesia; 4) anesthesia; 5) miorelaxation.

Contexts for Couperin’s L’art de toucher le clavecin

Early Music ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-346
Author(s):  
Marie Demeilliez
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
Vocal Pedagogy ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Valuable Source ◽  
School Teaching ◽  
Keyboard Music ◽  
Close Relationship

Abstract One of the best-known texts on 18th-century French harpsichord playing, Couperin’s L’art de toucher le clavecin (1716), has long been considered a valuable source for performers of French Baroque keyboard music. This article investigates the cultural contexts that shaped its text and its aesthetic preoccupations. Various passages dealing with the human body (on seating and position, and on fingering) can be related to the rules of civility and personal control taught by 17th-century etiquette books. Other passages such as the practical exercises show resemblances with vocal pedagogy and graded exercises used in school teaching of the time. Although Couperin claimed that his was the first and only method to deal with good keyboard playing, the book is shaped by a close relationship with other musical treatises (whether for harpsichord or other instruments) published in France during the previous few decades.

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