Main description:

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, now available in paperback, 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. -- .

Contents:

List of figures and plates
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Introduction: Model practices and expertise in state service
Part I: Politics of nature and politics of the body
1. The politics of nature and the foundation of the Royal Museum
2. Bodies and the state in eighteenth-century Tuscany
Part II: Articulating expertise in everyday practice
3. Accuracy and authority in model production
4. Model reception and the display of expertise
Part III: Changing model contexts and interpretations
5. The rejection of the Florentine anatomical models in Vienna
6 Regime changes in Tuscany and at La Specola, 1790-1814
Conclusion
Bibliography -- .