Friedrich Ziegler’s anatomical models from the Medical School’s Museo de Anatomía, Montevideo. 

by José Pardo-Tomás

to Juan Ignacio Gil, for another 25 years of friendship 

From some decades now, a material history of science education and, specifically, medical education, has been under construction, which is changing our way of understanding the relationship between knowledge, practices and their forms of transmission. This return to materiality has implied a new look at the objects that, in the more or less recent past were used to produce and communicate knowledge. This is particularly true in the case of modern medicine, where knowledge about the human body is conceived as the basis for an explanation of the process of falling sick, of healing or of maintaining health.  

It is therefore not surprising that anatomical models have occupied a pre-eminent place among the objects at the service of the production and communication of knowledge about the body. On the other hand, the model, as an artefact that is proposed as a representation of reality, always poses a questioning of its epistemic status. This leads to the succession of forms, materials and techniques that are presented as improvements in the pretence of representing reality with maximum “objectivity”, in order to produce and communicate “true” knowledge with maximum efficiency.  

From this theoretical framework, the result of attention to the material culture of medicine, we can understand the interest of historical studies dealing with the manufacturers of anatomical models, the techniques, materials and processes of their production, as well as the formation of collections in different areas and spaces: welfare, museums, business –not forgetting those of show business and entertainment–, private collections and, of course, those of educational institutions.  

In Montevideo, in the Medical School’s anatomical museum of the Universidad de la República, whose building dates from 1911 [fig. 1], there is a collection of embryological waxes, magnificently preserved, although until now it has not been properly studied from the historical point of view. Thanks to the efforts of Juan Ignacio Gil and the kind availability of Lucía Alfonsín, the museum’s laboratory preparer, we were able to access all the pieces exhibited in the display cases of the main hall of the museum [fig. 2]. Accessing the pieces without the obstacle of the glass of the display case allowed us to clearly read what was written on the metal plates nailed to the wooden supports of the pieces [fig. 3]. Plates that are of two types: a front one, with a brief description (in German) of what the model represents and a rear one –which guides the way in which each piece must be displayed– with the name and address of the manufacturer. Thanks to this, we were able to confirm the suspicion that the first contemplation of the pieces made us harbour: they were models manufactured by Friedrich Ziegler (1860-1936).  



Fig. 1 – Montevideo Facultad de medicina front door.

Fig. 2 – Montevideo Museo de anatomía room.



Fig. 3 – Ziegler embryological waxes.

The Ziegler ceroplastics laboratory and workshop was founded in 1852, in Freiburg im Bresgau (Baden-Württemberg, Germany), by Adolf Ziegler (1820-1889), and achieved great international success under the direction of his son Friedrich. From beeswax, the material from which the first models were formed, the Ziegler laboratory succeeded in obtaining new modelling waxes, more ductile and, at the same time, more resistant, by incorporating various types of resins. From the last decade of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the following century, the Ziegler catalogues –which included, in addition to embryological models (its great bestseller), other anatomical, zoological and botanical models– were distributed all over the world. A success that lasted only a few decades, but which made it possible for Ziegler’s specimens to be found today not only in anatomical museums of medical schools on five continents, but also on Internet sites for the sale of pieces to private collectors.  

Once the provenance of the Uruguayan collection had been identified, it remained to clarify –as far as possible– the moment of the collection’s arrival in Montevideo, as well as its use and impact on the faculty’s educational and research practices. To do this, it was essential to have the Juan I. Gil’s knowledge of the Montevideo medical history and the efficiency and kindness of medical school’s librarian, Amparo de los Santos. Between the three of us, it did not take long for us to locate the crucial source for determining the time and circumstances of the acquisition of Ziegler’s embryological pieces. In 1906, Juan Pou Orfila published Observaciones sobre enseñanza de la medicina [Observations on the teaching of medicine], in which he narrates the trip that had taken him to visit some medical schools in France and Germany [fig. 4a]. Pou observed there the use of collections of anatomical models for research and teaching of anatomy, embryology, pathology, dermatology and even surgical intervention techniques. In his extensive review of the collections visited, he made special mention of “the magnificent Ziegler wax models, known masterpieces of patience and scientific accuracy”, which “Professor Hertwig constantly uses in his lessons in Embryology”. And a footnote –the only reference in the entire record of his European trip– indicates: “Friedrich Ziegler, Atelier für wissenschaftliche Plastik, Freiburg in Baden” [Juan Pou Orfila, Observaciones sobre enseñanza de la medicina, Montevideo, Imprenta “El Siglo Ilustrado” de Mariño y Caballero, 1906, pp. 45-46).  



Fig. 4a – Ziegler embryological waxes.

Thus, it does not seem too risky to suppose that the acquisition of Ziegler’s embryology collection by the Uruguayan Medical School stemmed from this enthusiastic recommendation made by one of its most outstanding members. The assumption is confirmed by Juan Pou Orfila himself a few years later, when in 1915 he published a paper in the journal Anales de la Universidad –later also published as a book–, in which he stated:  

In this respect, the celebrated embryological models of Ziegler, of Freiburg are the most remarkable and best known. They are regarded all over the world as masterpieces of scientific accuracy. We can attest to the usefulness of these pieces for demonstration, having used them in the courses of Embryology and Histology that we gave in our Medical School from 1907 to 1912.  

[“Los célebres modelos embriológicos de Ziegler, de Friburgo, son, a este respecto, los más notables y mejores que se conocen. En el mundo entero se les considera como obras maestras de exactitud científica. Podemos dar fe de la utilidad de estas piezas para la demostración, por haberlas usado en los cursos de Embriología e Histología que dimos en nuestra Facultad en los años de 1907 a 1912″: Juan Pou Orfila, “Libro II. Pedagogía médica”, Anales de la Universidad 26 (num. 93), 1915, p. 101] 

The Uruguayan collection exhibited in the showcase consists of 51 pieces. A series of 38 waxes on individual wooden supports that reproduce the development of the embryo (the original series consisted of 48). It begins with the implantation of the egg (4 pieces, No. 1 is missing) and its development (22 pieces, Nos. 2, 4, 12 are missing), continues with the first embryonic development (10 pieces Nos. 2, 3 and 10 are missing) and concludes with that of the embryo itself (10 pieces, Nos. 5, 8 and 9 are missing) [Figs. 4a, 4b, 4c]. Another series of 13 pieces is grouped on four platforms. On two of them, 5 pieces with the sign Entwickelung des menslichen Gehirns show the development of the human brain, while the other 8 pieces, arranged on two platforms, reproduce phases of brain development of various species of vertebrates. The same room of the Museum also houses two other anatomical models produced by Ziegler, but with very different characteristics. These are two large articulated and rotating pieces, mounted on a wooden support with a label attached that reads: Modell zur Erläuterung des Faserferlasufes und der Kerne des Mittelhirnes und des verlängerten Markes eines Neugeborenen (Model to explain the fibre splints and nuclei of the midbrain and the medulla oblongata of a newborn baby) [figs. 5]



Fig. 4b – Ziegler embryological waxes.



Fig. 4c – Ziegler embryological waxes.



Fig. 5 – Anatomic articulated model.

REFERENCES 

  • For an approach to the figure and educational work of Juan Pou Orfila, see the book of his descendant, Ricardo Pou Ferrari, current president of the Uruguayan Society for the History of Medicine, who published the biography, Juan Pou Orfila. Crónica de una pasión pedagógica (Montevideo, El Toboso s.r.l., 2006). 
  • In the last twenty years, several collections (complete and incomplete) of the Ziegler embryological waxes have been recovered and restored. This has made possible, in addition to their permanent exhibition in anatomical museums of medical schools such as the one in Montevideo, their insertion in richer contexts addressed at wider audiences, especially in temporary exhibitions. To mention two outstanding examples, although very different in intention and orientation: Making Visible Embryos created by Nick Hopwood and Tatjana Buklijas, in Cambridge, between 2008-2010; and Sublimi Anatomie created by Andrea Carlino, Philippe Comar, Anna Luppi, Vincenzo Napolano and Laura Perrone, in Roma, between 2019 y 2021. 

OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
alexiacomte (September 2, 2024). Friedrich Ziegler’s anatomical models from the Medical School’s Museo de Anatomía, Montevideo. . SciCoMove — Scientific Collections on the Move. Retrieved April 28, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/1285p


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