Madame Tusseuds is an internationally reknown wax museum located in London with small museums in a number of other major cities.
Madame Tussaud's exterior
Originally, it was established by Marie Tusseud, a wax sculptor. Marie Tusseud was born under the name Marie Grosholtz, in Strasbourg, France in 1761. Her early life was spent in Bern and then Paris. The apostrophe is no longer used, since 2007, in "Madame Tusseuds". The museum exhibits the waxborks of famous and historical figures and it attracts a large number of visitors of the city of London.
Marie Tusseud's first wax sculpture was created in 1777, and it was a replica of Voltaire. At the age of 17, she was proclaimed the arts tutor to King Louis XVI's sister, Madame Elizabeth, at the Palace of Versailles.
Marie Tusseud, during the French Revolution (5 May 1789-9 November 1799), was imprisoned as a royalist for three months and condemned to execution, but thanks to the intervention of an influential friend, she was eventually released.
In 1795, she married Francois Tussaud, an engineer from Macon, and the show acquired a novel name: Madame Tusseud's. Upon proof of an unsuccessful marriage, Marie took her two sons and her collection of wax models to Egland in 1802.
By the year 1835, Marie had settled down in Baker Street, London, where she established and administered the museum. Of the distinct attractions of the museum was the "Chamber of Horrors".
Madame Tussauds might be best known for its enormous collection of wax figures, but the museum had a more grisly start. Madame Tussaud herself started the collection during the French revolution. She would run up to the guillotine after people had been executed and make wax imprints of their severed heads. The most famous is probably that of the last King of France. These heads are all on display at the museum along with a horrifying collection of monstrous historical displays in the chamber of horrors. When you see the life-sized reproduction of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims, you will never be quite the same again. Oh – and to make matters worse, the chamber of horrors now employs actors to jump out and terrify visitors.
Madame Tussaud's Chamber of Horrors
Some sculptures created by Marie Tussaud herself still exist, mainly of her great contemporaries,as the outstanding figures of Jean-Jacques Rousseu and Benjamin Franklin,Horatio Nelson and Sir Walter Scott.
The gallery originally preserved 400 figures but the fire of 1925, in combination with the German bombardments in 1941, eroded the largest part of her waxworks.
The casts, though survived, enabling the restitution of the historical waxworks, which can be seen in the museum's history exhibit. The most ancient figure hosted in the museum is that of Madame du Barry.
Other faces from Tussaud's time include Robespierre and George III.
In 1842 she created a self-portait which is now on display upon entrance of her museum.
Madame Tusseud died in her sleep on 16 April, 1850.
Madame Tusseud
By the year 1883, restrictions in terms of space and the rising cost of the Baker street location prompted Tusseud's grandson, Joseph Randall (1831-1892), to commission the building at its current location on Marylebone Street.
The new exhibition galleries were inaugurated on July 14th, 1884, and were welcomed with grant honour. Howerver, the business was under-funded. A limited company was formed in 1888 in order to attract fresh capital but it had to be dissolved following disagreements between the family shareholders and Tussaud's was sold to a group of entrepreneurs
in February 1889, led be Edwin Josiah Poyser.
Charles V at Madame Tissauds
Madame Tusseus's museum is topical as well as historical and it incorporates both the famous and the infamous.
References:
1. https://www.britannica.com
2. wikipedia
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