Ceroplastic depicting a plague figure, Neapolitan area, 17th century

In Italian artistic production, particularly in the central and southern regions, during the 17th and 18th centuries, an extremely detailed naturalism was sought, influenced by Baroque style. For this reason, the details were made using additional materials: for example, in this representation of the Plague Victim, the hair is made from fabric, as are the garments, enriched with real textiles.

Moreover, it should be emphasized that ceroplastics, the ancient art of working with wax, had been used since antiquity in funerary contexts and, from the 17th century, was widely employed for the didactic reproduction of anatomical, zoological, and botanical models. Over time, in fact, ceroplastics was mainly used for its anatomical representations. These works did not merely reproduce reality but were often inspired by a particularly dramatic and grotesque view of it. Such representations had the function of exorcising the disease, pain, and pestilence that were rampant at the time. The display case in question can be placed within the production of Abbot Giulio Gaetano Zumbo, the leading figure in 17th-century ceroplastics. These compositions had an extraordinary success and an artistic fortune that lasted for over a century in Italy and beyond.