Madame Tussauds

Marie Tussaud - The self-portrait of Madame Tussaud
@alinka (184)
Greece
May 23, 2010 3:59pm CST
Madame Tussauds,as we all know, is a wax museum in London, with branches in several cities of the world,founded by Marie Tussauds.But I would like to make a short resume of her life,as I found one of my notebook from highschool. :D On her real name, Anna Maria Grosholtz(1761-1850)was born in Strasbourg,where her mother was working as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius,a physician skilled in wax modeling.It seams that this is how the little Anna learned the art of wax modeling.Therefor ,in 1765,Anna Maria created her first wax figurine,representing Marie Jeanne du Barry,mistress of Ludovic the 15th.The first exhibition of Marie Tussauds was held in 1770 and attracted an large audience.Farther,the exhibition moved to the Royal Palace,in 1776. During the French Revolution ,she has shaped many of the known victims.In her memories,she tells how they were searching through the corpses ,to find the decapitated heads of executed citizens,then shape the masks.After the death of her "mentor",in 1794,she inherited his vast collection of wax models and spent the next 33years traveling through Europe.One year later she became Madame Tussaud,after her marriage wit Francois Tussaud.In 1835,she established in Baker Street,London and opened her museum,where one of the main attractions was the Chamber of Horrors.This part of the exhibition included figurines-victims of the the French Revolution and the newly created figurines of criminals and murderers. Other models figurines,contemporaneous with Tussaud were Robespierre,George the Third and Benjamin Franklin.Togheter with the figurines she added,in 1842,a self-portrait,exposed at the entrance of the museum. Unfortunately she passed out,while sleeping ,in april the 15th,1850. Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum became a major turist attraction ,in London and recently build up the London Planetarium,in its west wing.Although known as "Madame Tussaud",today the museums are owned by a company called Merlin Entertainments,as I've read online. So it seams that on the back of the famous wax museum is a whole page of history,which most of us are not aware of.I remember ,the first time I've heard about Madame Tussaud,was in high school and shamefully for me I didn't realised the value of the information I was receiving. One last information: the youngest person immortalized in a wax statue was Shiloh Pitt, the 2months old daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.....Hmmm,I wish I could have a wax statue :D
1 response
• India
23 May 10
great information dear,thanx
@alinka (184)
• Greece
23 May 10
You're welcomed ,dear!Have a great day!