La Specola

The largest and most famous wax anatomical collection anywhere in the world

The largest and best-known wax anatomical collection, La Specola is part of the Museum of Natural History in Florence and also houses some wonderful taxidermy, including some now extinct specimens and a very questionable-looking hippopotamus.




La Specola is the oldest public museum in Europe, having started as the personal collection of the Medici family. It was opened to the public in 1775. Anyone could attend as long as they "looked clean." The wax anatomical models were a huge hit, and the museum was attended by luminaries such as Goethe -- who wrote The Sorrows of Young Werther, a book about wax models, afterwards -- and Emperor Leopold who funded the museum.





Of special interest are the wax anatomical Venuses, wax models of naked women posed in old-fashioned semi-erotic poses, but with their rib cages and stomachs pulled open to the world. These gutted female forms were a favorite of the Marquis de Sade.





Surprisingly empty in the tourist packed Florence, skip the lines and spend a few hours in La Specola, you won't be disappointed.