Customer Reviews

Ephemeral Bodies: Wax Sculpture and the Human Figure (Getty)

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What a gem this is. Wax anatomical models seem to be hugely fashionable right now, with the "Exquisite Bodies" exhibition having been held in London from June to October this year (2009), and this is THE book that contextualizes wax sculpture: whether anatomical, devotional, or for entertainment. The book is weighty and solid, making it a tactile joy to hold and read. It's printed on beautiful weight paper with lovely quality of images. All sections are lavishly footnoted for further reading. The sections are:

Compelling Presence: Wax Effigies in Renaissance Florence, by Roberta Panzanelli
Wax Fibers, Wax Bodies, and Moving Figures: Artifice and Nature in Eighteenth-Century Anatomy, by Joan B Landes
Almost Alive: The Spectacle of Verisimilitude in Madame Tussaud's Waxworks, by Uta Kornmeier
On Waxes and Wombs: Eighteenth-Century Representations of the Gravid Uterus, by Lyle Massey
Wax Tokens of Libido: William Hamilton, Richard Payne Knight, and the Phalli of Isernia, by Whitney Davis
Fleeting Revelations: The Demise of Duration in Medardo Rosso's Wax Sculpture, by Sharon Hecker
Viscosities and Survivals: Art History Put to the Test by the Material, by Georges Didi-Huberman
and an appendix on the history of portraiture in wax, by Julius von Schlosser (for an appendix this is large and comprehensive: 4 chapters, 143 pages)

The book contains images which the casual reader might find disturbing, particularly the chapter on anatomical representations of fetuses and wombs, but the book is never prurient or exploitative. It is a scholarly examination of the different ways wax representations of the human form have been considered by different cultures. It is also an interesting look at the reason polychromatic sculpture became "anchored in art practice for millennia yet confined to the margins of art history...'disreputable' for many scholars" (p. 1).

Recommended for anyone interested in art and art history, or just having an eclectic sense of the beautiful.

This is masterfully researched book. There are many stunning photos of wax figures. Being a wax carver I am fascinated by the descriptions and these photos. Well done.