Collections of Cabinet of Natural History

Wax Mushrooms
Luigi Calamai

Luigi Calamai (1800-1851), skilled artist of the Florentine school of wax plastics, created a collection of mycological models in wax, to help citizens recognize edible and poisonous species. The collection, consisting of over 250 preparations, was presented at the Georgofili Academy in 1835 and at the 1st Congress of Italian Scientists held in Pisa four years later. Originally kept in the Museum of Physics and Natural History in Florence, it arrived at the Technical Institute certainly after 1877, thanks to the intervention of prof. Pietro Marchi, the last director of the Ceroplastic Workshop attached to the Museum of Natural History, who later became the head of the Institute.

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