Diseases in Wax: the History of Medical Moulage

Once a dominant form of medical visual record, the moulage (three-dimensional wax figure) has all but disappeared from the world of scientific illustration. This exhaustive study endeavors not only to discover why the moulage has fallen out of favor but also to demonstrate that the valuable medium's abandonment was premature. While emphasizing the inherent dermatologic focus of moulages, Schnalke's history investigates the breadth and wealth of both historical and contemporary medical uses of the wax models across diverse disciplines. Beginning with the ancient emergence of medical and historical wax image preservation and continuing up to modern modeling, this book explores the evolution of the art through the work of the most influential maulers and presents key pieces from the leading moulage collections accompanied by original diagnostic entries. The reader is provided with the full context of medical, diagnostic, and esthetic understanding to appreciate the gruesome beauty of medical moulage. This comprehensive look at a unique three-dimensional medical modeling method preserves a long lineage of scientific study and makes the case for the reintroduction of moulages to contemporary medical use.