Josephinum  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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The Josephinum is a Museum of the History of Medicine located at the Währingerstrasse 25 in Vienna, Austria. It features a collection of anatomical and obstetric wax models.

The greatest treasure of the Josephinum, namely the unique collection of anatomical and obstetric wax models, has remained in virtually pristine condition over the passage of two centuries since their creation, even if the ambience and arrangement of the collection have been altered. The idea of acquiring this incomparable teaching aid from Florence was Emperor Joseph's own brainchild and he personally financed the creation of the famed models. Their history is of interest. On a journey to Italy in 1780, when Joseph was staying as the guest of his brother, the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Tuscany, the emperor visited the Reale Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale in Florence (nicknamed La Specola on account of its observatory), which Pietro Leopoldo had opened in 1775. The imperial visitor was fascinated by the exhibited lifelike wax models of the whole human body, which had been made under the supervision of the physiologist, Felice Fontana (1720 - 1805), and decided on the spot to order a duplicate collection for his medizinisch-chirurgische Akademie, which presumably was in the process of being planned at the time. Fontana, who naturally greeted this project enthusiastically, was able to persuade Pietro Leopoldo to permit him to create the commissioned wax models in his own home, helped by several skilled workmen from La Specola. --[1]