Displayed Wounds, Encrypted Messages: Hyper-Realism and Imagination in Medical Moulages

Moulages are three-dimensional colorful replicas of body parts with particular expressions of ailments. Historically, by operating a transition between illness and disease, moulages were a powerful tool in the consolidation of the medical specialty of dermatovenereology. Yet, moulages are not solely an objectification of biological processes suitable for medical teaching; they also activate non-medical cognitions and emotions about life, death, behavior, and morality that are rooted in the history of the art of wax modeling. Furthermore, they provide a window into a dense history of urban health and illness, sex, law enforcement, assistance, gender, class, and politics.