Art and Science in the anatomical waxes of Susini-Boi of the University of Cagliari

The models of Cagliari were made in 1803-1805, when the great collections of La Specola in Florence and that of the Josephinum in Vienna, completed since more than a decade, were famous all over Europe under the name of Fontana’s waxes. The waxes of Susini-Boi are a work of the maturity of Susini and the result of his cooperation with the Sardinian Anatomist F. A. Boi, and were commissioned when Susini was eventually free from the influence of Fontana. Among the collections from Florentine origin, that of Cagliari is the only one whose cases bear a tag with Susini’s signature and date. The preparations have been selected to give to medical students information relevant to their professional formation, rather than to render anatomy as attractive as possible to lay people. Besides representing an example of how anatomy can be transfigured into art, the models of SusiniBoi still maintain, two centuries after their completion, an extraordinary scientific and teaching value.