Starting from a well-known letter from Goethe to Beuth, this essay focuses on the problem of visual representation in plastic anatomy from 18th century wax Venuses to 19th century moulages. I will argue that the very same problem – i.e. the replacement of the real body by means of artificial substitutes – led to very different solutions, with regard to both the depiction and the observer’s gaze.

Skin-deep. Wax moulages between science and aesthetics

Pietro Conte
2013-01-01

Abstract

Starting from a well-known letter from Goethe to Beuth, this essay focuses on the problem of visual representation in plastic anatomy from 18th century wax Venuses to 19th century moulages. I will argue that the very same problem – i.e. the replacement of the real body by means of artificial substitutes – led to very different solutions, with regard to both the depiction and the observer’s gaze.
2013
Evolutions of Form
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3709106
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