Featuring anatomy : capturing disease. on status, effect, and meaning of anatomical models and clinical moulages in wax.

Wax is a peculiar substance. Easily formable and colourable, it presents a unique organic texture. It is no wonder that medicine made use of wax as an illustrative medium. While the documentation of normal anatomies characterized the basis of medical wax modelling in the 17th and 18th century, signs of disease came into focus in the 19th century. In clinical moulages – cast from living patients – the physician's view was narrowed down to the visible symptoms in the patient's skin. However, at the same time, moulages presented a defined aspect of an actual individual. The wax shell thus captured illness on an objective, but also subjective level. This paper explores the concept, making and performance, as well as status, effect, and meaning of anatomical wax models and clinical moulages. It shifts the perspective to the actor at the center of every medical concern: the patient. Beyond the moulages' didactic capacities, their unexplored therapeutic dimensions will be raised and discussed [Publisher's text].

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