Moulage

Since the 19th century, medical moulages have been produced at most university dermatology clinics as virtually lifelike examples of diseases. They are still preserved at many clinics and still bear witness to diseases that we no longer know in their original form thanks to modern therapies, such as syphilis and skin tuberculosis.

The term moulage comes from the French (mouler = to cast, mold) and originally referred to any kind of true-to-shape replica, usually made of wax, later also of latex, silicone or gelatine. The technique goes back to the molding of living or dead body parts, often for medical, scientific or artistic reasons. The moulage technique is still used in art today. We are all familiar with Madame Marie Tussaud's wax museum in London.

Marie Tussaud (1761-1850) was a French-British artist who became famous as a wax sculptor in the 18th century. Her art consisted of creating lifelike wax figures of historical figures. Marie Tussaud, born Marie Grosholtz, learned the art of sculpting from her mentor Dr. Philippe Curtius, a military surgeon who specialized in anatomical modelling.

During the French Revolution, Marie Tussaud made wax casts of decapitated heads of prominent people - a macabre but direct reference to the art of medical and historical moulage. She later founded the still famous "Madame Tussauds" wax museum, which is now represented in several cities.

The moulage technique, which was used for teaching purposes in dermatology, is a type of contact moulage that was modeled directly onto the skin of a person. In most cases, plaster casts were taken directly from skin diseases. These casts were therefore negative molds of a skin disease and its surroundings. They were later filled with skin-colored wax and then colored by hand. Medical expertise and great artistic skill were necessary for their success. Moulages thus enabled realistic learning situations in the pre-photographic age, which would otherwise have been difficult to convey at the time.