Museo Galileo
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Virtual Museum
Model of forceps delivery
    • Setting:
      Room X
    • Author:
      Giuseppe Ferrini and/or Clemente Susini [attr.]
    • Place:
      Florence
    • Date:
      after 1771
    • Materials:
      wax
    • Dimensions:
      360x450x480 mm
    • Inventory:
      Dep. OSMN, Firenze
    • Model of forceps delivery (Dep. OSMN, Firenze)

This obstetrical wax model shows a vertex presentation, and the umbilical cord is broken. The forceps are applied to the inferior portion of the pelvic cavity diagonally to the head, and with the blades consistently facing the occiput. Head and forceps are about to rotate so as to position the occiput below the inferior strait.

The model was commissioned by Felice Fontana, who was working on the installation of the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale of Florence, from the sculptor Giuseppe Ferrini and his assistant Clemente Susini.