Ephemeral bodies wax sculpture and the human figure by Roberta Panzanelli - 2008

Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2008. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Hardcover in dust jacket. First printing. Fine condition in Fine dust jacket (tiny nick at spine). The book evolved from a workshop at the Getty Institute entitled Lasting Impressions: The Art of Wax Sculpture. Includes a translation of Julius Von Schlosser's "History of Portraiture in Wax." Profusely illustrated. Small 4to. 328 pp. including index.

Los Angeles, Calif: Getty Research Institute, 2008. Hardcover. VG, dj shows minor wear. Mylar covered pictorial dj; maroon convers. (vii), 327 pages : illustrations (some color). The material history of wax is a history of disappearance--wax melts, liquefies, evaporates, and undergoes innumerable mutations. Wax is tactile, ambiguous, and mesmerizing, confounding viewers and scholars alike. It can approximate flesh with astonishing realism and has been used to create uncanny human simulacra since ancient times--from phallic amulets offered to heal distressing conditions and life-size votive images crammed inside candlelit churches by the faithful, to exquisitely detailed anatomical specimens used for training doctors and Medardo Rosso's "melting" portraits. The critical history of wax, however, is fraught with gaps and controversies. After Giorgio Vasari, the subject of wax sculpture was abandoned by art historians; in the twentieth century it once again sparked intellectual interest, only soon to… Read More

Getty Research Institute, 2008-03-24. 1. Hardcover. Used:Good.

Museum Publications. New. 2008. Hardcover. 0892368772 .*** FREE UPGRADE to Courier/Priority Shipping Upon Request *** - *** IN STOCK AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SHIPMENT - Flawless copy, brand new, pristine, never opened -- 336 pages; 41 color and 89 b/w illustrations. Description: "The material history of wax is a history of disappearance-wax melts, liquefies, evaporates, and undergoes innumerable mutations. Wax is tactile, ambiguous, and mesmerizing, confounding viewers and scholars alike. It can approximate flesh with astonishing realism and has been used to create uncanny human simulacra since ancient times-from phallic amulets offered to heal distressing conditions and life-size votive images crammed inside candlelit churches by the faithful, to exquisitely detailed anatomical specimens used for training doctors and Medardo Rosso's "melting" portraits. The critical history of wax, however, is fraught with gaps and controversies. After Giorgio Vasari, the… Read More