As a child he showed a high level of intelligence, and was sent to the Franciscans of Fonni in Sardinia to train for a career in the church.

[2] He completed his studies in grammar, literature and philosophy, but then became interested in medicine and left the friars to attend the University of Cagliari.

There was no university in Florence, but there was a flourishing school of anatomy at the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova under Paolo Mascagni (1755-1816), whose friend Felice Fontana (1730-1805) was the founder and director of La Specola Wax Museum.

Charles Felix (1765-1831), the younger brother of King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia (1759-1824), financed Boi during his stay in Florence.

It was during these years that he worked with the sculptor Clemente Susini at La Specola in preparing wax anatomical models for teaching purposes.

Charles Felix purchased the wax models for his Museum of Natural History and Antiquities at considerable expense.

[1] Most of Boi's lectures have been lost, and none of his work was printed, so he is known now mainly by the high reputation he earned during his life and for the wax models that he helped to create.