David Cronenberg: Cere anatomiche

This project develops in two complementary parts. The exhibition features a selection of thirteen eighteenth-century ceroplastic works from the renowned collection of the Florentine museum, and a series of seventy-two exhibition copies of anatomical drawings gathered in nine vitrines. In particular, “Cere anatomiche” features four reclining female figures, including one of the most relevant works of La Specola’s collection, the so-called Venus, a rare model with detachable parts famous for its beauty.

An unprecedented short movie titled Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection, realised by David Cronenberg in the spaces of La Specola, provides an alternative gaze on the four female wax models on display, exploring themes such as the fascination with the human body and its potential mutations and contaminations.

Cronenberg’s film reveals the vivid and unexpected dimension of the ceroplastics, so far known for their static and severe nature, to generate a plurality of new emotional responses, intellectual impressions, and intense feelings.