Raccolta delle Cere Anatomiche di Clemente Susini (Collection of Anatomical Wax Models by Clemente Susini), Cagliari

The collection of anatomical waxworks by Clemente Susini is a wax museum in Cagliari, located in the Citadel of Museums. The museum houses a notable collection of anatomical waxworks (reproducing parts of the male and female human body), second in Italy only to the Museo della Specola in Florence, which the Sardinian institution was inspired by. As already mentioned, Clemente Susini's anatomical wax models are still exhibited in the "Pentagonal Room" of the Cittadella dei Musei. This room can be easily reached after passing the neoclassical arch of the Arsenale, going up on the right and following the signs. The waxes are divided onto 23 wooden boards, to which one or more pieces from the collection are fixed, protected by showcases and accompanied by captions.

The museum is located inside the Citadel of Museums of Cagliari, and its main content consists of a collection of very refined anatomical wax models that faithfully reproduce the human body down to the smallest details. The collection consists of 23 polychrome anatomical waxes attributed by experts to the full artistic maturity of Clemente Susini (1754-1814) and judged among the most beautiful existing in the world. The extraordinary perfection of the anatomical detail is associated in these waxes with a figurative research usually absent in the previous works of the Florentine artist, and very evident in the composed realism with which he fixed the image of death in the faces. The waxworks were commissioned from Susini, between 1801 and 1805, by the viceroy Carlo Felice, through the anatomy professor Francesco Antonio Boi. The waxes were modeled in the famous wax modeling laboratory of the Museum of Antiquities and Natural History of Florence, where Boi carried out the dissections of which the Cagliari specimens are faithful reproductions. The museum is home to editorial activity; some of the waxworks from the collection have been exhibited in prestigious museums in large cities, such as the Villette in Paris, the Hayward Gallery in London, the National Science Museum in Tokyo, the Triennale in Milan. There are architectural barriers.

Set up inside the Citadel of Museums in Cagliari, the museum houses one of the most interesting collections of anatomical wax models in the world. It owes its name to Clemente Susini, a famous wax modeler who lived between the 18th and 19th centuries, author of the 23 wax models which reproduce anatomical parts of the male and female human body with extreme precision and attention to detail, combining research and obsessive attention to detail. Observing Susini's anatomical wax models, especially the faces, one cannot help but notice the realism of the expressions which give the observer the real appearance of lives broken and exhibited in the composure of death. ***PH***