Dermatological moulage collections in the Nordic countries

Abstract

Moulages are medical gems from bygone days before modern technology facilitated new means of communication. Restoration and appropriate storing should be considered for at least selected items from the Nordic collections.

Use of medical photography among dermatologists: a nationwide online survey study

“…Hand-drawn and painted illustrations, as well as intricate wax moulages-which offered detailed threedimensional depictions at one time central to medical education -were commonplace before the advent of photography. 2 Thereafter, the dawn of photography in the late 19th century lead to the United States' first photography atlases of dermatologic disease, starting with Dr. Alexander Balmanno Squire's 1865 publication of Photographs (Colored From Life) of the Diseases of the Skin, a collection of 12 albumen prints that were hand-coloured and displayed alongside case descriptions. 3 Since, medical photography's application has become increasingly complex with the advent of digital photography, smartphones, telemedicine and the ease of photo sharing and storage.…”

“…Dermatologic disease has been represented pictorially since the specialty's conception. Hand‐drawn and painted illustrations, as well as intricate wax moulages—which offered detailed three‐dimensional depictions at one time central to medical education—were commonplace before the advent of photography . Thereafter, the dawn of photography in the late 19th century lead to the United States' first photography atlases of dermatologic disease, starting with Dr. Alexander Balmanno Squire's 1865 publication of Photographs (Colored From Life) of the Diseases of the Skin , a collection of 12 albumen prints that were hand‐coloured and displayed alongside case descriptions .…”

Wax Moulages and the Pastpresence Work of the Dead

“…Recently, I visited the Museum of Wax Moulages in the University of Zurich, 1 which opened in 1993 following a number of decades during which, as described in the Museum leaflet, “wax moulages lost their acclaim and were in danger of being disposed of.” In the journal Nature , wax moulages are hailed by the contemporary scientific community for being a treasured “godsend for medical teaching” (Abbott 2008). The revival of interest in wax moulages is marked by a series of studies aimed at identifying and ensuring the conservation of these “medical gems from bygone days” (Worm et al 2018).…”