A curator’s Paris Journal - Musée des moulages III : the Cleveland connection

In 2000 a curious collection of dermatology images – glass plate negatives (seen in original paper envelopes and cardboard boxes here, at left), photographs, and delicately hand-colored prints -- came to light at the Dittrick. It was literally buried in bookcases in my office, the Corlett Room. Corlett gave these images to the Dittrick more than a half century before, but no one had dealt with them in any fashion.

William Thomas Corlett (1854-1948), served as professor of dermatology (and later syphilogy) at Western Reserve University and at the close of a long career donated his rare books and clinical photos. During the summer of 2007 Dr. Paula Summerly studied this remarkable collection in detail, finding therein an amazing connection between Corlett and colleagues at the Hôpital Saint-Louis in Paris. She published her findings in the International Journal of Dermatology and I draw upon her scholarship that reveals the intriguing details.

Corlett studied skin diseases in London and Paris (1879-81, including a stint as dresser at the Hôpital Saint-Louis), and again in 1889 at clinics in Vienna, Berlin, London, and Paris. These experiences proved influential in Corlett’s career. He later turned to colleagues at the Hôpital Saint-Louis when preparing illustrations for his monograph, A Treatize on the Acute, Xanthamata…(1901). Corlett took the clinical photographs himself, and then visited Paris in 1899-1900 seeking the assistance of Felix Méheux (1838-1908). [for more info on Méheux's work, see the website of the French Society of the History of Dermatology -- be forewarned that it may take some navigation to get to the section on historic photography.]

Photos tinted by Felix Méheux, the second with tissue paper overlay and editorial comments by Corlett.

Méheux, outstanding photographer and colorist at the Hôpital Saint-Louis, hand tinted the images to highlight the details and, according to Corlett, “in this way the most delicate shades of color have been given.” Summerly further observes that “Méheux’s coloring style is very reminiscent of that used in creating the three-dimensional wax dermatological moulages displayed at the Musee [des moulages] Hôpital Saint-Louis.” In his published Treatize, Corlett freely acknowledged that the printer had not done justice to the artistry of Méheux. He lamented that “the publishers, to cut down on the expense of production, had employed an inferior firm to reproduce the excellent colored photographs which I had taken so much pains to secure.” How many of us have shared such disappointment in our own illustrated works?

Nevertheless, this story demonstrates the importance, more than a century ago, of international collaborations. And it illuminates hitherto unknown connections between medical history collections in Paris and Cleveland -- who knew?

Jim Edmonson

An additional important note: go the Dittrick's website, and see more Corlett images, and download the pdf of Mary Hunter's fine article on the collections of the hopital Saint-Louis. And be sure to see Joanna Ebenstein's images of the museum on flickr.

A curator’s Paris journal : Musée des moulages - II

Musée des moulages de l'hôpital Saint-Louis 1 avenue Claude-Vellefaux 75475 Paris

As mentioned in my previous post on the Musée des moulages, there is ample interest in moulages in museum collections, as demonstrated by the proliferation of scholarly works, exhibitions, conferences, and web postings. But I don't think that I gave much serious thought to just how these things were created and what issues that process raised. That changed when I read a recent article by Mary Hunter, "'Effroyable réalisme': Wax, Femininity, and Realist Fantsies," that appeared in RACAR-Canadian Art Review in 2008 (Vol. 33, Nos. 1-2: 43-58).

Edouard Dantan, Une Moulage sur Nature. 1887. Gotebords Konstmuseum, Sweden.

Professor Hunter explored the moulages at the hôpital Saint-Louis, and particularly the physicians who commissioned them and the artists (mouleurs) that crafted the moulages. Many of the moulages depicted syphilis and gonorrhea, and therefore involved taking casts directly from afflicted male and female genitalia. Got my attention now. Hunter writes, “…casting was an invasive and uncomfortable process as it demanded that wet plaster be applied to open sores, rash-covered skin, and the body’s most sensitive openings. The exhaustive touching of bodes is particularly evident in Péan’s collection of moulages of diseased genitalia.” She raises many issues barely hinted at in the presentation at the hôpital Saint-Louis, particularly the relationship between doctors and female patients, including prostitutes. I commend Hunter’s fascinating and enlightening article whole-heartedly; you’ll never look at moulages in the same light again.

For those who can’t visit the hôpital Saint-Louis, there’s hope. The Musée des moulages website provides online access to a portion of the collection. The site hosts a database of digital images of 998 moulages out of a total of 2500. They include moulages of venereal diseases, like the secondary syphilis seen here. To search the moulages, select "recherche avancée" (advanced search) and then "Moulages Hôpital St Louis" in the "Collection" dialog box.

Additionally, there are at least two online inventories of moulages in the works. As noted in Morbid Anatomy last December, at the Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum, Thomas Schnalke and colleagues have started the Archiv für medizinische Wachsbilder (Moulagen) [Archive of medical waxes (moulages)] and offer a version in English. In Brussels, Chloe Pirson of the Musée de Médecine (Université libre de Bruxelles - Belgique), has created Le Centre International de Recherche sur les Modèles Anatomiques (CIRMA). Neither site is fully operational but we’ll revisit them from time to time to monitor their progress.

In my next, and concluding, post on the Musée des moulages de l'hôpital Saint-Louis, I'll turn to the use of photography to depict dermatological afflictions. Therein lies an intriguing connection between Cleveland and Paris, and between the collections of the Dittrick and the Musée des moulages...

Jim Edmonson