The Specola, a museum quietly boasting "deep ties with history [and collection pieces that] can be traced back to the Medici Family [...] is known for its collection of wax anatomical models from the 18th century. It is the oldest scientific Museum of Europe" (https://webmail1.pepperdine.edu/owa/redir.aspx?C=df3624466b4f4c1d97f78476ac1e4092&URL=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fLa_Specola), and on Thursday I visited and toured this historical site. I was amazed at the anatomical accuracy and detail that all the figures had, being created back in the 1700s. The Specola is home to a wide-ranging display, including models of birthing cats, egg development and growth inside of chickens, human body parts, miniature 3-D still-shot scenes of people suffering from the Black Plague, and full human cadavers at various phases of dissection. The concept that was most clear and striking to me upon viewing these displays was the intricacy and detail of the body and all of its cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems having to work together for countless crucial systems to function correctly. From nerves firing properly, to the brain responding, and then all the body parts working to carry out the brain’s command, and all the little steps along the way, my belief in God as Sovereign Creator was strongly reinforced.
I was also struck by the realization of how large and superficial (close to the skin) our arteries are, especially in the pelvic area before tucking into the femoral muscles. I always envisioned arteries, veins, and nerves as abstract, microscopic tubes that were just floating around in the body, but these vessels form a massive network, spider-webbing all around, over, and through our bones, muscles and organs. Seeing these huge arteries just lying vulnerably on top of bone was a shock to me and made me think about the frailty of human life – very unlike the contemporary idea of humans as indestructible and totally self-dependent.
A third concept that interested me, similarly to the veins, arteries, and nerves, was that salivary glands are actually fairly large and visible with the naked eye. In general, this was a realization for me that the body is not messy and impossible to comprehend, but rather very orderly and logical. Each of the little parts that I can read about in my textbook, such as a salivary gland, is real and tangible, not an infinitesimal part requiring imagination to visualize, or a name used to explain a theory about what functions happen in the body.
Going along with this idea, I found the partially-dissected foot model particularly interesting. The toes (still covered with skin) seemed to belong to a living human, complete with the sense of personality and character that tend to go along with each person’s hands and feet, and yet, on that same model, the rest of the foot revealed the anatomical, scientific view with the skin cut away, as you might find in a textbook. I have never seen anything like this model, where accurate and detailed science is paired inexpressibly with such a real sense of humanity.
For this same reason, my other favorite was the room with the dioramas of people suffering from the Black Plague. These dioramas contained so much feeling and humanity, a real sense of pain and suffering from an emotional and personal viewpoint, along with the scientific facts of what was occurring. I could have stood there looking at those four displays for hours, which again alerts me to God’s care and complexity in creating us as emotional, spiritual, intellectual, physical beings – all interconnected to make us who we are.
I am not one for museums, and my tolerance for them usually lasts about as long as my patience with shopping (not long at all), but The Specola captured my attention and stands out in my mind as a timelessly thought-provoking eye-opener to the wonder of Creator God.
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