The Anatomical Venus: Wax, God, Death & the Ecstatic

(Zoe Williams The Guardian)Wonderful and epically illustrated book. This book raises intriguing questions about science, religion, philosophy, beauty, sex, desire, and art while tracing the influence of these macabre sculptures through the centuries. 'Perhaps the draw of the Anatomical Venus comes from an unspoken, intuited resolution of our own divided nature,' Ebenstein writes, 'an unconscious recognition of another avenue abandoned, in which beauty and science, religion and medicine, soul and body might be one.' (Lauren Oyler Vice Magazine)In her new book, The Anatomical Venus: Wax, God, Death, & The Ecstatic, Morbid Anatomy Museum co-founder Joanna Ebenstein digs deep into the fascinating story behind this beautiful oddity, and lays it all bare in tight, engaging prose that spans centuries and takes us from the artisan workshops and cathedrals of 18th century Italy into the dusty dime museums of turn-o

Its extensively researched text explores the Anatomical Venus within her historical and cultural context in order to reveal the shifting attitudes toward death and the body that today render such spectacles strange. The first book of its kind, The Anatomical Venus, by Morbid Anatomy Museum cofounder Joanna Ebenstein, features over 250 imagesmany never before publishedgathered by its author from around the world. It reflects on connections between death and wax, the tradition of life-sized simulacra and preserved beautiful women, the phenomenon of women in glass boxes in fairground displays, and ideas of the ecstat

Fascinating This touches two fascinating subjects--wax sculpture as an art form, and anatomy books as a source of scientific information and cheap thrills. The first deserves more respect than it generally gets; Madame Tussaud's is barely the tip of the iceberg. The second is treated here mainly as a means to guilty voyeurism. (You will hardly . "Lovely book." according to Neldine. Beautiful book, great shipping.. !!! Came sooner than expected! Great book, super excited to get it!