Preventive conservation strategies for wax bodies in Scientific University Collections

Abstract

In recent years, university museums have been subject to growing interest from the scientific community. Their collections are composed of objects whose nature varies, allowing the visitor and the researcher to make a visual tour of the different scientific disciplines. This paper analyses the main agents of deterioration that affect a specific type of cultural heritage exhibit, the anatomical models made of organic materials (wax, natural hair, horsehair, vegetable fibres, dyes, natural resins, etc.), which are highly sensitive to environmental agents, and it proposes strategies for the preventive conservation of collections consisting of such items. The Faculty of Medicine at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) has one of the most important collections of such models in Europe, containing true works of art which combine scientific rigor with the aesthetic taste of the 18th century.