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SEX may have been taboo in Victorian London, but hundreds of thousands of people were obsessed with grisly "medical museums", a new exhibition reveals.
Models depicting every human organ drew record crowds when they were put on display in 19th century Oxford Street and Soho.
Now the Wellcome Collection has revived the surviving waxwork exhibits to reveal how they were used for shows that mixed serious science with an element of fairground horror.
About eight museums operated in the Oxford Street and Soho areas, and visitors were fascinated by the displays of disease-ridden organs.
The exhibitions were eventually closed down in the face of a moral backlash, fuelled partly by their growing sideline in quack cures for venereal infections.
The examples in the new exhibition are rare survivors from collections including the department of physiological development at Cambridge University, The Musée de la Médicine in Brussels and the Science Museum.
Kate Forde, the Wellcome Collection's curator, said: "There's definitely a playful element of the grotesque fairground attraction, but there's a serious message about the role these objects played in public health information.
"The middle classes were able to go and see the body as never before and enter into knowledge that had been previously the domain of the medical establishment." For many people, the museums had a role in educating them about the perils of sexual diseases such as syphilis.
But the public never saw some of the best examples of the craft which were made at the time by Joseph Towne for Guy's Hospital and will be in the Wellcome exhibition. They are so highly regarded they are still used at King's College, Ms Forde said.
"They are uncannily lifelike, death-like creations. Today we don't see the ravages of syphilis with disintegrating noses and so on that were so prevalent in those times. It's eye-opening for modern students."
But Ms Forde insisted not all the show was grotesque. Many of the models were also quite beautiful, she added.
Exquisite Bodies opens to the public tomorrow and runs until 18 October. Admission is free.
Reader views (4)
I agree with Jack. Dont review an exhibition without telling us where it is..
Also do your research! Victorians had sex as a taboo but not really..Upper class wives would keep vibrators in a wooden box on their mantle piece. They were not prudes!
- Cj, London
Jack - I think most people reading this, and taking an interest, won't find it too difficult to type "Wellcome Foundation London" into a search engine.
Stop being pernickety.
- Jock, London
its on the Euston Road just before the lights to Euston Station
- Terry Chambers, London
The one thing missing from the article is the actual location of the exhibition, not everybody will know where the Wellcome Foundation is, thoughtless reporting.
- Jack Tripper, London, UK
