Resumen de Manufacturing techniques and the art of wax modelling: from the sculptor's studio to the anatomical workshop
Alicia Sánchez Ortiz, Sandra Micó Boró
Wax modelling gained the status of an art from in the 15th century, and the process was perfected in Florence in the 17th century. Towards the end of that century, artists and modellers worked together to produce accurate wax models for the teaching of anatomy. Similar methods were adopted in Spain, where the collection of wax models used at the Royal College of Surgeons of San Carlos, founded in 1787 and now housed in the Complutense University of Madrid, is of very high quality. This paper discusses the documentary sources relevant to the practice in Italy, a single surviving Spanish source, the bleaching of beeswax, the meaning of the term 'Punic wax', the recipes used for modelling wax, and the carefully guarded, standardised methods of colouring wax for anatomical models.
