Opera di cera

"Kelley Swain takes us to 18th-century Florence, where the Museum of Physics and Natural History is creating its most famous waxwork, the anatomical Venus: a life-sized female figure who comes apart to reveal a foetus in the womb. Yet behind the exquisite craftsmanship and beauty of the finished waxwork lies an extraordinary tale; a macabre romance which plunges the reader into a sensual underworld of gluttony and lust, perfection and power. The fates of model, modeller, Museum Director and the deformed porter Cintio are soon intertwined; but who is watching whom as the Venus nears completion?"--Publisher's Web-site.