Wax Anatomy Museum, University of Cagliari

The Wax Anatomy Museum at the University of Cagliari holds one of the most significant collections of anatomical wax models in Europe — 23 full-body figures and dozens of detail studies, all created in the early 19th century. The figures are displayed in their original wooden cabinets in a frescoed hall, and the combination of scientific precision and 18th-century aesthetics produces an effect that is simultaneously beautiful and deeply strange.

The models were used to teach anatomy to medical students when dissection of human bodies was restricted, and their extraordinary detail reflects the ambition of this educational project. Today the collection is a museum of the history of medicine as much as an art gallery. It's not widely advertised and many visitors to Cagliari miss it entirely — which is a pity, as it is among the most unusual things you can see in Sardinia.

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A story
The collection was assembled between 1801 and 1832, primarily from works by the Florentine sculptor Clemente Susini, who also created the famous anatomical waxes at La Specola in Florence. The Cagliari commission was placed by the Viceroy of Sardinia to provide teaching materials for the island's medical school — a reminder that in the early 19th century, wax models were among the most advanced medical education tools available. The models are so detailed that individual blood vessels, nerves, and muscle fibres are rendered in coloured wax.