La Specola Anatomical Collection – Florence, Italy - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

La Specola Anatomical Collection

Florence, Italy

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

View all photos
La Specola. Daderot/CC BY-SA 3.0
La Specola. Daderot/CC BY-SA 3.0
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
La Specola displays Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
A wax anatomical "venus" Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Octopus at La Specola Michelle Enemark (User Photograph)
Representations of plague victims by Gaetano Zumbo. Sailko/CC BY 2.5
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Welcome to La Specola gavinsuz (Atlas Obscura User)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
Wax anatomy at La Specola zackofalltrades (Atlas Obscura User) (User Photograph)
491
1533
Related Stories
Lam's plush viscera include kidneys, the gallbladder, and intestines.
medicine

The Most Adorable Way to Learn Anatomy Is With Knitted Organs

Using needles and yarn, a medical student is working his way through the human body.
Jessica Leigh Hester February 6, 2018
anatomical venuses

An Ode to an Anatomical Venus: Waxing Poetic on the Uncanny Allure of 18th Century Dissectible Women

Joanna Ebenstein February 13, 2013
Top Places in Florence
Apothecary jars in main room
Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy
Florence, Italy
Ospedale degli Innocenti (Hospital of the Innocents)
Florence, Italy
Studiolo Francesco I de’ Medici
Florence, Italy
 See All

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 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 later wrote The Sorrows of Young Werther) 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.

Clemente Susini’s wax models, painstaking to produce and incredibly fragile, can be seen in only a few other locations throughout the world, including the Semmelweis Museum in Budapest, and the Josephinum in Vienna, and the Wax Anatomy Museum at University of Cagliari.

The overlooked collection is surprisingly empty in the tourist-packed Florence. While there, you can also check out its zoological collection.

Update as of September 2019: The La Specola Museum is closed for refurbishment work and is expected to reopen in the next 18 months. 

Update as of November 2023: The La Specola Museum is now scheduled to reopen on 21st of February 2024. 

Know Before You Go

The anatomical collection is now only viewable by guided tour. Call the museum to reserve a place or book a private group tour.

Atlas Obscura Trips

NEW - Southern Italy: Castles, Caves & Coastal Treasures in Puglia

Whimsical architecture, outstanding olive oil, and gorgeous landscapes.
Book Now
clemente susini marquis de sade anatomical venuses wax museum wax anatomy anatomy museums medical museums museums and collections
Nearby
La Specola Zoological Museum
0.00 miles
Massimo Listri Foundation
0.15 miles
Babae Wine Window
0.28 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
Florence, Italy

La Specola Zoological Museum

An incredible menagerie of more than 3 million taxidermied animals at the oldest science museum in Europe.
Florence, Italy

Massimo Listri Foundation

An extraordinary house museum and cabinet of curiosities in the heart of Florence.
Florence, Italy

Babae Wine Window

Drink wine handed out through a window as part of an age-old tradition.
Buontalenti Grotto. (61736507/Flickr)
Florence, Italy

Buontalenti Grotta

A large grotto built in the 16th century amidst Florence's famous Boboli gardens.
Related Places
Anatomical exhibits at the Museo di Palazzo Poggi
Bologna, Italy

Museo di Palazzo Poggi Anatomy & Obstetrics Collection

An extraordinary collection of 18th century anatomical waxworks.
Rome, Italy

Museo Storico Nazionale Dell' Arte Sanitaria

One of the most important yet well-hidden museums dedicated to the history of medicine.
Vienna, Austria

Josephinum Medical Museum

One of the best collections of wax anatomical models in the world.
Pavia, Italy

The Museums of the University of Pavia

A collection of collections, including an anatomy museum, the “Cabinet of Physics of Alessandro Volta, a museum of natural history, mineral collection, and much much more...
Appears in 2 Lists
Row after row of skulls
List

Favorites

Some of the most incredible, beautiful, and strange places in the Atlas.
Meg Neal February 21, 2018
La Specola.
List

18 Places To See Uncanny Specimens of Wax Anatomy

Relics of an earlier, cruder era in medicine.
Molly McBride Jacobson October 27, 2016
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web