Model Experts: Wax Anatomies and Enlightenment in Florence and Vienna, 1775–1815 - Softcover

Maerker, Anna

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719097398 ISBN 13: 9780719097393

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Model Experts is the first book-length history in English of a celebrated collection of anatomical wax models which continues to fascinate audiences and shape our image of the body to the present day. Model Experts reveals the human relationships, controversies, and political projects which surrounded the artificial bodies.

About this title

About the Author

Anna Maerker is Senior Lecturer in History of Medicine at Oxford Brookes University

From the Back Cover

Based on a detailed study of rich archival sources, Model experts explores practices of model production and display, and reveals the often invisible labours of the co-operating artisans, anatomists, and administrators.

The book shows that the models were central to a remarkable political experiment: 'La Specola' opened in 1775 as the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, one of the first public science museums in Europe. As a venue for public enlightenment, the museum displayed model anatomies to create the model citizen. The study also moves beyond the borders of Tuscany, following a set of Florentine waxes to Vienna to explore the diverse reactions of medical professionals and general audiences as the models travelled in enlightened Europe.

The book will be of interest to historians of medicine, science, art, and enlightenment, to scholars in museum studies and in science and technology studies interested in the historical emergence of expertise, public engagement with science, and the relationship between science and the state.

From the Inside Flap

Based on a detailed study of rich archival sources, Model experts explores practices of model production and display, and reveals the often invisible labours of the co-operating artisans, anatomists, and administrators. The book shows that the models were central to a remarkable political experiment: 'La Specola' opened in 1775 as the Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History, one of the first public science museums in Europe. As a venue for public enlightenment, the museum displayed model anatomies to create the model citizen. The study also moves beyond the borders of Tuscany, following a set of Florentine waxes to Vienna to explore the diverse reactions of medical professionals and general audiences as the models travelled in enlightened Europe. The book will be of interest to historians of medicine, science, art, and enlightenment, to scholars in museum studies and in science and technology studies interested in the historical emergence of expertise, public engagement with science, and the relationship between science and the state.

Edition details

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0719097398
• ISBN 13: 9780719097393
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264