The Natural History Museum of Vienna has opened a remarkable new exhibition in the historic Narrenturm, showcasing an extraordinary collection of medical wax models known as moulagen that capture human diseases and suffering with startling artistic precision. Running through April, the exhibition presents these haunting yet beautiful representations of medical conditions that blur the lines between scientific documentation and fine art.
Located in the gray circular building of the distinctive Narrenturm in the middle of the university campus, the wax sculptures gleam under cool lighting, creating an atmosphere that is both clinical and deeply moving. What appears at first glance to be contemporary art installations are actually detailed reproductions of human ailments and masterworks of medical precision. The pathological-anatomical collection of the Medical University of Vienna has dedicated an entire themed room to these deceptively realistic wax models of diseases, injuries, and skin conditions.
The collection's origins trace back to 1892 when wax modeler Carl Henning began creating these shockingly realistic pieces under commission from the university. His work was so meticulously detailed that medical students from across the Habsburg Empire flocked to Vienna to study these models, allowing them to learn about various medical conditions without needing to observe living patients. Henning's moulagen transcended their educational purpose, becoming true artworks that preserved the fragility of the human body in wax form.
After Carl Henning's death, his son Theodor continued the meticulous craft, carrying on the family tradition until his own death in 1946. The techniques and artistry developed by both father and son created a unique legacy that combined medical accuracy with artistic sensibility, producing works that remain as compelling today as they were over a century ago.
Now these extraordinary works have returned to the spotlight in the Narrenturm's new permanent exhibition. The collection displays pale skin marked by inflammation, infected wounds captured in perfect detail, discolored ulcers, and other manifestations of human suffering – frozen moments of pain that simultaneously possess a strange and unsettling beauty. Among the notable pieces are detailed representations of skin conditions such as Erythema multiforme exsudativum, showing the redness and inflammation characteristic of this condition, as well as models depicting leprosy affecting various parts of the body, including knees affected by tuberculoid leprosy.
The new permanent exhibition in the Narrenturm demonstrates how closely medicine, art, and mortality intersect in human experience. Visitors walking among the glass display cases and information panels can sense that these wax models tell stories far beyond simple medical case histories. They reveal humanity in its most vulnerable state – fragile, mortal, yet possessed of an immortal drive for knowledge and understanding. The exhibition serves as both a tribute to medical advancement and a meditation on the universal human condition.
