Eternal flora : documenting diversity in botany through wax.

The Renaissance saw a growing interest in botany, which began to emerge as an independent discipline. Illustrated plant books based on direct observation flourished, and botanical gardens were established in Italian universities. The period also witnessed the arrival of New World, African, and Asian plants in Europe. These discoveries were documented in illustrated Herbals and Floras, and later in exquisite three-dimensional wax models.

One remarkable example is preserved at Florence's La Specola Museum, renowned for its anatomical waxes but also home to a botanical wax collection. From its earliest years, the workshop produced models of fruits, mushrooms, and exotic plants. These lifelike replicas, easy to interpret even by non-specialists, had great didactic value – for instance, teaching how to avoid poisonous mushrooms. They also served as visual records, preserving colour and form more effectively than other media. Their survival owes much to their beauty as well as utility[Publisher's text].

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