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Adopt a Wax Plant

The collection of wax plants, housed in via La Pira, includes life-size reproductions of nearly 200 species of potted plants and as many fruits, as well as 37 models on a wooden board, illustrating the anatomy, pathology and plant physiology .
The waxes, reproduced in the smallest details and made between the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, are unique in the world and have great artistic, historical and scientific value.

The artists who created the collection of wax plants, so-called "ceroplasti" (ceroplastics artists), were the same ones who created the anatomical waxes conserved at La Specola. The ceroplasti copied the subjects from life, with the collaboration of various scientists - anatomists, physiologists, botanists and microscopists - in order to achieve maximum scientific truthfulness. Some parts of the real plant were placed on the waxwork, such as the quills.

In wax plants, beauty is combined with the precision of scientific representation: aesthetically prized, the ceroplastic artefacts are placed in Ginori Doccia porcelain vases specially made for this purpose and bearing the scientific name of the plant according to the classification of Carl Linneus.

The Lorraine Collection of wax plants requires a restoration to repair breakages and damage caused by time and to recover the original colors now blurred, the fallen leaves, the damaged petals as well as their exotic charm.

The restoration, entrusted to the experience of the restorers of the prestigious Opificio delle Pietre Dure, needs funds that, over time, can finance the full recovery of this unique collection.

For more information please contact Chiara Nepi 

Last update

13.07.2021

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