Wax models of the head and neck (figs 1-3), and of the right hemisphere of the brain (figs 4-5), made by G. G. Zumbo. Engraving by J. Robert after M. Basseporte, 1749.

Buffon became the "intendant" of the Jardin du Roi in 1736 and his Histoire naturelle has, as its base, his descriptive catalogue of the specimens of the "cabinet du roi". The third volume is concerned with the Natural History of Man. In the introduction to the work, he remarks that, even more than the most exact descriptions and the best illustrations, "Nothing contributes more to the advancement of Natural History, than the continual observation of the objects of which it comprises."

Both these wax models were presented to the French king in 1701 by the Italian wax modeller, Gaetano Giulio Zumbo. Buffon describes the life-size head as having received great praise. "It represents perfectly a head prepared for an anatomical demonstration, in which one finds all the smallest details, the veins, arteries, nerves, glands and muscles, all coloured as in Nature (pp. 212-213) A further description of the head is found on pp. 225-227. Zumbo, who was born in Syracuse and died in Paris, is known for his coloured-wax tableaux depicting scenes of death and decay as well as for his anatomical-pathological models, In the mid 1690s, he collaborated with the French surgeon Guillaume Desnoues in Genoa where Zumbo made coloured anatomical waxes after Desnoues's dissections. Falling out with Desnoues, Zumbo travelled to France, first sending an anatomical wax head to Gran Principe Ferdinando de Medici in Florence (Lightbown 1964, pp. 563-564) Upon arrival in Marseilles, Zumbo set about making a second, similar head, assisted by a young surgeon and supplied with heads from the hospital of Marseilles. He presented this head in Paris to Gui-Crescent Fagon, Louis XIV's chief physician. It was then inspected by the Académie Royale des Sciences, winning great praise, and subsequently purchased for the Royal Collection. Zumbo's old partner, Desnoues, consistently maintained that the coloured-wax technique for anatomical waxes was his invention. However, in 1701 Zumbo was granted a French royal privilege for their manufacture (Pyke 1973, pp. 162-163) He died later that year and so was unable to take advantage of it

[Paris] : [Imprimerie royale], [1749]

1 print : engraving ; platemark 20.9 x 16.7 cm

Madel. Basseporte del. ; J. Robert sculp.

Bears number: Tome III ; Pl. 9 pag. 228

E. J. Pyke, A biographical dictionary of wax modellers, Oxford 1973, pp. 162-163

R. W. Lightbown, Gaetano Giulio Zumbo, II: Genoa and France, The Burlington magazine, December 1964, vol. cvi, no. 741, pp. 563-569

Wellcome Collection 34190i