Before color photography was invented, wax models were used as medical teaching aids, to illustrate anatomical structures, and document visible pathological conditions. Many of the early modelers were anatomists as well as sculptors. Wax lends itself to a variety of techniques for capturing the look of flesh and skin. Georges Didi-Huberman:
[W]ax presents a disturbing multiplicity of physical properties... it is solid, but easily liquefied; impermeable yet readily soluble in water; it can be opaque or transparent, matte or polished, slippery or sticky, brittle or malleable; its consistency can be endlessly modified through the addition of a wide range of resins.
What fascinates me about medical wax models is the amazing level of workmanship and attention to detail of many of the pieces, way beyond what is necessary for mere medical illustration. I always feel that the medical use of a beautiful model is an afterthought, almost an excuse to fund these painstaking and obsessive projects.
(The term moulage, from the French verb mouler, to "mold" or "imprint", is often used to refer to wax models that are molded from a negative.)
Origins: Giulio Gaetano Zummo
Zummo (or Zumbo, 1656-1701) is usually considered the first major medical wax modeler. My references give slightly different biographical details, but he was from Syracuse (Sicily), and worked mostly in Florence, Naples and Bologna. Many of his wax models are now lost. La Specola, the Museum of Natural History in Florence, has most of his surviving work, including a life-sized model of a head (see above), and several miniature tableaux depicting the plague, syphillis, and stages of decomposition.
[ZumboTableau; Zummo's Il Sepolcro, or the Burial, La Specola, Florence]
Photo courtesy of Curious Expeditions
There are references to another Zummo head housed in the Museum of Natural History in Paris; I have been to the museum but don't remember seeing the head. Zummo's technique was not documented; in fact, many of the great modelers were rather secretive about their methods. Schnalke's book has a description of the possible procedure. Embedded in the La Specola head is a real skull, whereas the later Paris head is constructed entirely of wax.
Article on Zummo and La Specola (including later wax models)
Bologna and Florentine Schools
In Bologna in the mid 1700s, Ercole Lelli (1702-1766) was commissioned by Pope Benedict XIV to produce a collection of anatomical wax models, including models of organs, and human bodies displaying muscular, circulatory and nervous systems; human skeletons were used as frameworks for the latter. Later Bolognese modelers included Anna Morandi-Manzolini, who built a number of obstetric models.
More on Bolognese waxes
La Specola in Florence now houses probably the largest collection of anatomical wax models in the world. Most of the collection was constructed after the early Bolognese models, between 1770 and 1850. With the support of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a school of anatomy and wax studio was established; Giuseppe Ferrini, Felice Fontana and Clemente Susini built many of the earlier models. Many of the modelers were influenced by Renaissance art. For example, Paulo Mascagni's reclining figure illustrating the lymphatic system is modeled after Michelangelo's Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
[LaSpecolaLymph.jpg; Mascagni's lymphatic vessel man from La Specola]
Photo courtesy of Curious Expeditions
Schnalke's book has a detailed section (p. 43-45) on the Florentine technique. Briefly, the dissector first prepares a cadaver or relevant parts so that structures are easily observed. The modeler then molds a plaster negative, either from the "natural pattern" or from a pre-built initial model. Wax is then applied to the plaster molds. A wax model may be assembled from several pieces, with the hollow space inside filled with rags, wood etc. The surface of the model is finished, painted and varnished.
Schnalke reports that copies of the Florentine models can be found in Leiden, Budapest etc. The largest collection of the Florentine models outside Florence is in Vienna at the Josephinum, commissioned by Emperor Joseph II of Austria, "transported on the backs of mules over the Brenner pass," according to Schnalke. (While the Viennese models are supposedly in better condition than the originals at La Specola, I always thought the lighting conditions in La Specola are more flattering to the models.)
Encyclopedia Anatomica (Taschen) on La Specola wax models
From about 1840-1893, at the hospital Santa Maria Nuova in Florence, Giuseppe Ricci and other modelers produced a collection of moulages documenting primarily skin diseases. These pieces are now on display at the Museo di Anatomia Patologica in Florence. (I have only seen photos of the pieces; my impression is they are not at the level of the work of Towne or Baretta, described later. Schnalke also mentioned that the collection is in poor condition.)
Joseph Towne (London)
In the 19th century, in addition to illustrating anatomical structures, wax models began to be used for documenting visible pathological conditions such as skin diseases and external tumors. The amazing work of Joseph Towne (1806 - 1879) includes skeletons, highly detailed anatomical cross-sections, and incredibly realistic models of dermatological conditions; most of Towne's surviving work can be seen in the Gordon Museum at Guy's Hospital, London. Towne was very secretive about his methods, but he did influence a number of North American physicians and mouleurs. There are extensive moulage collections at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia and the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington D.C. Most items in these collections are by Towne or of European origin, though there are some American pieces.
[Towne.jpeg; Joseph Towne's Section of the Thorax]
Mouleur Eleanor Cook on style and technique, with footage of Towne's models
Moulage in France
Lemire's book describes the beginnings of moulaging in the late 1700s in France, including the work of the surgeon and mouleur Andre-Pierre Pinson. Pinson's most famous piece is probably Anatomy of a Seated Woman, depicted on the cover of Lemire's book; photos from the book show a wide range of Pinson's work, including anatomical cross-sections, models of organs, full-sized figures showing muscular structure, and dermatological conditions. Some of Pinson's models are on display at the Musee Dupuytren in Paris.
[Pinson; Pinson's Face consumed by cancer]
The Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris was decreed in 1801 to be used to treat patients with skin diseases. The Moulage Museum in the hospital houses the largest collection today of moulages of dermatological conditions. Most of the incredible pieces were made by Jules Baretta (1834-1923). Baretta was making a living building papier-mache models of fruit, when he was discovered by the dermatologist Charles Lailler.
Baretta's models are some of the most impressive that I've seen. The skin catches the light in naturalistic ways, the hair is formed in painstakingly life-like patterns, and the lesions and tumors just seem to push out of the surface of the models. A small selection of photos can be found here. More photos.
[Baretta; Baretta's model of acne]
Other collections
Schnalke's book describes several moulage collections in Germany, including activities in Freiburg, Dresden and Berlin. Schnalke is the director of the museum at the Charité hospital, where some pieces are on display. The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum has most of the surviving work from Dresden, but I was told only a small selection is available for viewing.
Several mouleurs were active in Vienna in the 19th century, including Johann Nepomuk Hoffmayr who documented eye diseases, Anton Elfinger, and later, Carl Henning. Some of these models are on display in the Josephinum and the museum in the Narrenturm in Vienna.
[Vienna; Untreated tertiary syphillis by Carl Henning]
Wax models in the Josephinum
Zurich has had an unbroken tradition of medical moulaging, dating from the early 20th century, mostly documented in the collection at the Moulagenmuseum. This is one of the most accessible and best maintained collections of moulages today, with some beautiful pieces.
[Zurich; from the Moulagenmuseum in Zurich]
The Ziegler studio in Freiburg produced large collections of wax models of embryos, illustrating anatomical structures and different stages of development. The Zieglers were active from the late 1800s to the start of World War II.
Footnote: Getting into museums
Some of the collections I mentioned are not officially open to the public. Accessibility is much better today than it was 10 years ago, when I first became interested in medical museums. (I have stories involving a lot of unreturned phone calls, and general begging and groveling.) Most of the museums are not well-supported, with minimal staff; they cannot handle large numbers of visitors. Museum staff are usually helpful if you have some medical or artistic connection, and make it clear that you have a lot of respect for the work, are not about to take pictures/video and distribute them without permission, etc.
References
Thomas Schnalke's Diseases in Wax, the reference on medical moulage
Michel Lemire's Artistes et Mortels, excellent reference on French work
On La Specola, Florence:
La Specola wikipedia entry
Curious Expedition's gorgeous flickr set
Encyclopedia Anatomica
Gerard Tilles and Daniel Wallach's Les musees de medecine (Editions Privat, 1999)
Gerard Tilles and Daniel Wallach's book on wax models of skin diseases in the St. Louis Hospital
Book on (mostly) skin disease models in the Institute of Anatomy-Pathology, Florence
Gretchen Worden's Mutter Museum, including a number of photographs of wax models in the collection
Nick Hopwood's Embryos in Wax, on the Zieglers' work
Catalog of Spectacular Bodies exhibit, with some materials on medical waxworks
Wellcome Museum Exquisite Bodies exhibit
Order moulage supplies
Tangents:
I thought about including references to Honoré Fragonard's écorchés, Paul Thek's meat pieces, Ron Mueck's incredible human figures, John Isaacs' anatomical distortions etc, but this post is already too long. Maybe another day...
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p.s. Hey. Bill Hsu aka d.l. Bill has you extraordinarily covered for the weekend with this expertise-sharing, heat-seeking post, and I thank him profusely as well as any of you guys who give voice to your expedition therein. Parc Asterix was a blast. It's quite an excellent amusement park. Pix and related stuff re: that will be coming next week. Okay, I'll get right to catching up with the comments of the last couple of days. ** Thursday: Oscar B, So much water under the bridge since your comment in question, literally, ha ha. Talk to you later, I'm sure. ** Emily, Hey. I miss Kimberly. I checked for your new John Waters thing, and I'll check again later. I hope this isn't an intimidating bit of info, but John's a dedicated reader of my blog, so you can bet he's seen your post(s), and you can also bet that he has dug it/them big time. ** David, Thanks about the Erlich. I figured RT was doing theater. Nice that it's Mamet and not 'Starlight Express'. ** Misanthrope, Oh, hm, well, all the more reason for heavy finger crossing on that mysterious job then. If you like peepholes, you'll love my novel. Maybe that can be its slogan. ** David Ehrenstein, Correction: Guys giving themselves blow jobs doesn't freak me out in the slightest; it just isn't erotic to me at all. I had coffee with Richard Thomas and Kenward Elmslie at RT's Los Feliz home many years ago, as I imagine I've already mentioned. Nice fella. ** Math, Hope selling those leftovers gets you the tattoo money, obviously. I'll wait patiently for the pix. Steven and Stephen should be pronounced differently. I guess sometimes they are when Stephens occasionally say their names are pronounced STEFF-AN. But just a slightly harder 'f' sound would be enough, I think. ** Bernard Welt, If only 'Inception' had resembled a video game, or a good video game, I mean. But I'm someone who thinks critics' tendencies to compare bad movies to video games is just sloppy thinking. I don't mean you were thinking sloppily, of course. And in fact it was less like a video game than like, as you said, a kid waxing enthusiastic about a game, except without the enthusiasm. Anyway, I wondered what you'd think of it naturally 'cos I know even less about dreams than you know about video games. Didn't Kenward publish one of Richard Thomas' books? I know he wanted to. ** Killer Luka, Me too about wanting to go back to that city. Luckily, I live five measly hours away from there and have a trip in the works. Oh, yeah! ** Alan, Wow, so you're that close to actually finishing the novel, period? In addition to my excitement and congrats, I have to throw just a little envy in there. ** Heliotrope, You would have liked Parc Asterix. It was much better than I had imagined and than the ads and online evidence make it seem. Sorry about the weird and boring and mysterious stuff you're going through. Oh, yeah, of course I remember Scott Spaulding. That's very sad news. I hope, yeah, I hope he wakes up. It's been a strange summer. Love to you and to your (and my) gal. ** Pilgarlic, Do all moles grow hair? That's weird. Or at least big ones like his? I wonder why. He must have had his mole hair lazered out or something. It probably didn't even cost that much. That Sushi bar drinking and ladies night sounds fun. It does, actually. I think the Sushi bar context gives it a sophisto spin or something. ** Steven Trull, Mine smells edible, probably because I never sit on it. ** Ken Baumann, Hey, K. Really, you think you had Swine flu when you were over here? And yet you guys had all of those adventures anyway? You could have died or something. That's spooky. Anyway, blah blah, come back. That's all I want to say. Come back. Oh, yeah, sure and true about 'Inception' being an admirable blockbuster. Sometimes I wish Nolan's films were a little warmer or that they had a much, much bigger emotional palate. It's like either the actors sneak feeling through his films' dryness or they don't. It just felt really passionless to me in a way that put me off. But, yeah, if it clears the way for more complicated blockbusters, more power to it. ** Steevee, Hope your recovery has taken hold by now. ** Statictick, I wouldn't say 'Inception' sucks. It just isn't what it is trying very hard to be, for me. ** Postitbreakup, Hey. Oh, well, then I guess the thing is to work on not wanting anything from them, right? 'Cos the problem is you want what they can't or don't want to give you, and, in doing that, you lose sight of who they really are, and they just become your projection or whatever. I've had people do that to me on rare occasion, and it's incredibly frustrating and ultimately very annoying. I mean when someone says they know you and love you or whatever, and you know they don't know you at all, and, thus, can't love you. It's a bad situation. So, if you're drawn to a certain type of person, I guess you have to learn to appreciate who they are and be satisfied that they like you enough to be your friend or something, no? I didn't hate 'Inception' at all. It just kind of annoyed me ultimately. ** Kier, We made it to Parc Asterix. It's cool. I'll go with you sometime, although we rode almost every ride in the park, so let's just give our mutual visit a little while to gestate, long enough that I can forget stuff. You need to get better weapons somehow, probably. Good weaponry is the key. You can find a cheat/ walkthrough guide for the game online somewhere, and it'll tell you where/ how to get the better weapons and how to defeat the enemies as they arrive. I almost always play games with a walkthrough guide handy. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, Nice. Everyone, nice. That's been haunting TDFG's dreams. New Days, yum. You are ever so kind in addition to your general greatness, my friend. ** Oliver, Hey. Yeah, 'Inception' has lots of reasons why it can and should be liked. It's interesting in that way. Even after I saw it and left the theater feeling kind of bugged by and shruggy about it, I thought it could be one of those films I'll completely change my mind about in a year or five. I can't imagine ever thinking the stuff with the wife and kids is good, and I can't imagine changing my opinion that it being there and so prominent only hurts and empties the movie rather than giving it the emotional center it's obviously there to provide. But, yeah. I'm curious to see it again after a while. ** Slatted Light, Hi, David. Really glad you liked Erlich's work. Thank about the Lish piece in 'SiH'. It's kind of strange because the majority of the newer writers I most admire seem to think he's kind of godlike. I can see why, if you were a younger American writer looking for models among an older generation of American writers, he and his thing could be valuable, and that the negatives of his work could be seen as rebellious and admirably dogged and all that. I totally agree with you about his anti-sincerity thing, and while I think it worked for him in his specific editing of Carver, for instance, I don't think that stance is sound or has enough groundwork or something to form a manifesto. I see why in the current context/ climate, Lish's stuff helps new writers, but I haven't changed my mind about him. In the AIDS piece, or rather in the non-fiction version as opposed to the fiction/nonfiction version of the same piece that's in 'Guide', I certainly intended to indicate my having been attracted to Bouncer 'cos I was, and his HIV status wasn't what prevented me from accepting his offer, and in the 'Guide' version, of course, my reaction/ action is less ambiguous. Does that answer you question, ha ha? ** Sypha, It's okay, man, I understand. I just wish you could get to the bottom of your health issues, find a doctor who could identify and cure the physical problems and maybe a decent therapist who could help you work out and rid yourself of whatever part of your illness that's psychological. ** Shane Le Vein, Thanks very kindly of you in return. Still, if I'm in a position to offer you a freebie, I will, and you can decide at the time. Keep in mind that none of the money generated by ticket sales goes back to Gisele or me or any of us involved in the theater piece. The take from the tickets goes to the venue. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hi. Your reviews won't disappoint me. Perish the though. They won't. It's impossible. Banana nut is the best, I agree. But, damn, that little food stand in the Gare de l'Est makes serious muffins in general. Great muffins aren't that easy to get over here. 'Inception' isn't that bad. It's just ... shrug. But if you love movies about dreams, you should probably see it. Doesn't everyone worry that every illness means one has cancer? Isn't that, like, normal? Your day was full interesting squibs of time. Bursts of the marvelous. I liked it. My day or days, I guess, since I'll do both here: I can hardly remember Thursday. It must have been absolutely the usual. I really can't remember a think of note having happened. Weird. Yesterday, well, Oscar B and I went to Parc Asterix. There's a bus to PA that leaves from the Louvre at 8:45 am, and we caught it. The drive took about an hour partly 'cos a bunch of it was spent in rush hour traffic on the narrow-ish streets of Paris. PA is near CDG airport. That surprised me, I don't know why. We got dropped off there and went in. Physically, PA is sort of like a slightly lower budget Disneyland kind of place with a faux-ancient looking main street full of shops and different 'lands' with themes: Gaul, Rome, Greece, and so on. It's all wooded and pretty. The rides are pretty excellent. There are two huge, excellent roller coasters and bunch of smaller ones. There are five water rides, all pretty good. There are some good theme rides: a really superb and very high tech Caesar one, a charming dark ride, an Asterix village, a restaurant that looks like an 3D Arcimboldo painting, and etc. Bad food, of course, but not as bad as Disneyland food. I ate pizza and French fries and drank a lot of mediocre espressos. We just wandered around and rode everything in sight all day and went to the shows (gladiator thing, dolphins thing, etc). It was perfect weather. I got sunburned, but not too badly. The pix I'm going to post in a few days will tell the tale, I guess. At 7:30, the bus picked us up and took us back to the Louvre whereupon we metroed home feeling pretty beat but, you know, all happy and stuff. Then I was kind of really tired and didn't do much and slept. Hm, I didn't make that sound as cool as it was. Anyway, now I have a weekend to play with, and so do you. Show me yours, and I'll show you mine. ** Creative Massacre, Hey. So, you're on the mend, good. That inflating with air thing is bizarre. Kind of spooky to imagine, but I guess bodies can handle it? Or sort of handle it based on your aches and pains, I guess. ** You-x, I thoroughly enjoyed the latest evolutionary moves of your painting. Just so you know. The only Erlich I've seen in person is the 'Batilement' (sp?) one 'cos he did it at a Nuit Blanche here a few years ago. The wooden roller coaster was good. Kind of a rough ride like wooden ones always give. Nope, hadn't been there before. The new Deerhunter single ... do you mean 'Helicopter' or the other one? I've heard both. I think they're great. Please give the great Panda? my very best wishes and hopes that he feels a lot better. You too, re: your re-soured mood. Gosh, whatever the correct objective opinion is on 'Inception', I'd be really surprised if it's a masterpiece. I'm pretty damned sure it's not that. ** JW Veldhoen, So true about Mr. Tony O'Neill. I think I would have died if I'd taken what you took that night. You're Mr. Strong Constitution. ** Changeling, Hey, man. That Blumenthal link didn't work, or rather it went all 404 on me. Did you manage to hear from the doctor before the weekend stepped in and he went golfing or whatever British doctors do? The images arrived just fine. You'll hear from me soon. Well, someone got killed on one of the Parc Asterix rides maybe two years ago, I think? It was kind of sad there if you care enough about places like that to feel sad when there's not very many people there and when the people working in the food stands and the less interesting rides look bored and desperate. No lightning, though. Some non-fatal fake lightning, though. I really hope you're feeling better, my friend. ** Brendan, You'll have to do the scotch. One sip of that stuff, and I get a hangover. I'll do the vodka. Well, you should be feeling good about your art, shouldn't you? Yes, you should. The Real L Word isn't on here, no. Rest easy on that front. ** Jeff, Well, yeah, Jeff the Dentist, why not? What does that require? Dentist school? Is that a big ordeal? I don't know how dentists become dentists. I think you should totally follow that dream and make it concrete. I can totally see it. ** Marc Arthur, Hey, Marc. Welcome to here. That's a beauty self-immolation post. If my place had anything to do with it, I'm honored. Everyone, Marc Arthur, newly here, has a post on his blog called 'Self immolation in art' that's very beautiful, fulfilling, and more than that. Go hit that link, yes? I tried to check out your work on your website, but my connection is too sluggish this morning to load the front page, so I'll try that again in a while. Thank you for posting, respect to you, and please return any time. ** Friday: 士凱士凱, Meh. ** Wolf, Hey. Glad you liked the Erlich and Bernhard. Ha ha, I'll try to post a pic of Lena sometime. She's way not Abramovic-ish. I think French people assume Parc Asterix must suck, but it really doesn't. It's almost weird how much it doesn't. ** Scunnard, Hey, man. That small p.s. made me happy too, ha ha ha ... ahem. Thank your subconscious for me re: that dream. If I really had a daughter, you and she would be married, have three kids, and be living in a secret passageway in my very, very large castle. Sound good? ** David Ehrenstein, Bernhard is most worthy of further reading. The Gould one is a goodie. ** Bernard Welt, Oh, that poor Spanish kid. I've seen you play dumb. It's scary. I guess there should be a ha ha there. Or I don't know. Sunburn has the weirdest effect on one's mind, at least when it's a facial sunburn. They don't produce Bernhard's plays over here much either. It's odd. I think I told you I saw one of his plays produced in Amsterdam when I was living there, and he came out for a curtain call. I didn't know he was at the time, and the play was in German, so I was mostly just sleepy when he walked out. Polite applause. Good question about what Bernhard has. The Germanic language thing: I once compared Bernhard and Sebald in a conversation with a German guy, and his expression withered me. ** Bollo, Hey, Jonathan. Good to see you, man. I'll cross some fingers too since I don't think my fingers will jinx it. They're magic fingers. Sometimes. Hopefully, in your case. Cool about the show you're in. Everything I've read by Dan Graham has been really good, even his Artforum articles. Thanks a lot about 'SiH'. Thats really nice to hear. I'm good, I think. Yeah, I'm good. You sound good. ** Kiddiepunk, Thank you, sir. You missed a whole mess of fun yesterday, buddy. ** Math, With Apple, awesome! Every remaining finger and toe of mine are crossed. You know what is supposed to be the best company in the world to work for? Pixar. A friend of friend works for them, and he says it's like working in and for heaven. I so hope that Apple grabs you. It was total fun at Parc Asterix. We should go if you get over here. Kiddiepunk wussed out on going with us, poor guy. ** Steevee, That is an odd, interesting sounding dream. ** _Black_Acrylic, Have fun in Leeds. The wedding's today, right? I hope there's wedding cake. Like traditional wedding cake if you guys have it over there. Wedding cake is the fucking best, man. ** Jesse Hudson, Hey, Jesse. Yep, yep, yep on Bernhard. Yep, yep, yep! Talk to you later! ** Creative Massacre, My day was good, thanks. My sunburn isn't the coolest thing ever. Yeah, battle through the transition from pain killers to pain to no pain (and no killers required). Hopefully, by Monday. If that made no sense, it's just my sunburn talking, sorry. ** JW Veldhoen, Nice. ** Misanthrope, Oh, man, that's ... ugh, spooky and worrying about your mom and the heart attack and that. Jesus Christ. Yeah, they should clear that artery. I think they can do that really easily nowadays. Man, I'm so sorry. I hope they can getting her squared away fast. Is anything happening re: that this weekend? My love to you and my best hopes to your mom. ** Alan, Hey. Yeah, I think the 'Them' shows at PS122 are official now. Obviously, if they're selling tickets, they are. I don't know when or how much I'll be there. That's still being figured out. Maybe for two weeks, ideally. But, yeah, it's happening, I guess. ** Tigersare, Well, you should definitely at least find some time to play the piano. Or else figure out a way to play the piano online. Hm. Yeah, the first Lewis Furey album is really good, right? I've only heard it and his second album, which I remember being not as good. Best to you, Guy. ** Nb, Greetings to Texas. That was too long a drive to take in one day. Well, I guess not since you're there at the end of it. Sucks about the boredom part. I like your tattoo image. I approve. It looks like it will look like it matters to you. Everyone, here's nb's potential tattoo. It's going to go on his wrist. I like it. What do you guys think? ** Bill, Hey, man. Thank you, thank you for the incredible post! I'm thrilled to be wearing it this weekend. Oh, yeah, Monday, sure. Sounds great. Just text or call or email me, but that sounds perfect. And it's going to be a wonderful 23 degrees here tomorrow! Might rain, though, but still. Safe trip. ** Okay, now, you guys have a fine weekend with Bill leading the way. I'll do something like the same. See you on Monday without much question.
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