From the 1950s to the present day, numerous three-dimensional wax reproductions of the lymphatic vessels of vertebrates have been produced as a result of pioneering research carried out in Parma by the Anatomical School of Gaetano Ottaviani and Giacomo Azzali. In particular, Giacomo Azzali’s ultra-stuctural studies provided the basis for the development of an original mode of ceroplastic reconstruction.

According to this technique, starting from images obtained with a transmission electron microscope of ultra-fine silk sections, a graphic profile of the vessel section can be prepared. This is subsequently coloured according to the arrangement of the endothelial elements and treated as a substrate for a lithography-like procedure, which uses liquid paraffin as a solid replicate of the image. After solidification of the waxed sheet, the various vessel profiles are isolated from the rest of the wax by means of a scalpel and affixed serially one on top of the other, until the three-dimensional wall of the lymphatic vessel studied is reformed.