AN ANATOMICAL MODEL OF HEAD IN WAX MADE BY ZUMBO (1700): OBSERVATION AND PHOTOGRAPHICAL TRI‐DIMENSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

Abstract

A composite head in wax which was mounted on a real skeleton, was studied. It was photographed with a numerical camera, in rotation every 5° all along 360° and with three incidences in relationship with the sample: horizontal, at 25° and at 50°. 72 photographs were shot in each incidence, i.e.: a total of 216 was obtained. This wax was realized in the year 1700 by Gaetano Zumbo. It belonged to the Orfila museum collection closed in december 2009. The Quick Time Virtual Reality software permited the tri‐dimensional photographic reconstruction. The introduction on the internet permitted to spread the knowledge of this sample to the general public. he photographic data completed previous personal works (Le Floch‐Prigent, 1999; Le Floch‐Prigent, Guerini, Chevrot, 2006) radiographical ones and CT‐scanographical ones which proved the composite nature of the sample and the youth and female nature of the underneath head skeleton with an intra‐cranial capacity of 1350cc3.