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Madame Tussauds wax museum in France. Wax figures of Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds wax museum in France. Wax figures of Madame Tussauds

09.07.2019

Anne-Marie Tussauds is called the woman who brought history to life. Its wax museum is known all over the world, in many cities there are its branches. But few people know about how it all began, and what prompted the young woman to cooperate with the executioners and sculpt the masks of executed royalists, revolutionaries and criminals.

Madame Tussauds
The official biography of Madame Tussauds states that her father was a military man who died 2 months before the birth of his daughter. Usually, the fact that in the family of her father all the men were executioners is not mentioned. But Anna-Maria's father Josef Grossholz did not follow in the footsteps of his ancestors, he really was a soldier. However, his daughter had to deal with executioners throughout her life.

On the left is a wax figure of Voltaire, the first independent work of Madame Tussauds. On the right are the wax figures of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI.

Anna-Maria was born in 1761 in France, later she and her mother moved to Switzerland. There, Anna's mother got a job as a housekeeper for the famous sculptor Philip Curtis. At first he made anatomical models from wax for medical purposes, and then he turned to the creation of portraits and figures. Wax sculptures were in demand and brought considerable income to their manufacturer. Soon Curtis began to create wax portraits of members of the royal family, moved to Paris and opened his own atelier. Anna-Maria watched the work of the master for hours and soon decided to try to sculpt herself. She became a student and assistant to the sculptor, and already at the age of 17 she created her first independent work - a bust of Voltaire. The work was displayed in the window of the workshop, and people crowded at the windows all day long.

Wax figures of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI

In 1779, Anna Maria received an invitation to teach her skills to the king's sister, Elizabeth. For the next 10 years, she remained the court sculptor until the French Revolution began. The woman, as an accomplice of the royalists, was thrown behind bars and was about to be executed, but at the last moment she was pardoned. She was asked to make the death masks of the executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

On the left is Madame Tussauds. On the right, Madame Tussauds creates a portrait of the guillotined Marie Antoinette.

Cooperation with the revolutionaries was forced - in case of refusal, she herself would have been deprived of her life. The collection became more and more figures of the executed victims of the revolution. All Parisian executioners knew her, who allowed them to remove masks from their victims during their lifetime and cut their hair after execution. “I paid for these relics with blood on my hands. These memories will not leave me as long as I am alive, ”she said. She also had to sculpt the masks of criminals, and then she had an idea: not to show them one by one, but to build a plot composition of the crime. This was the first step towards the creation of the museum.

Exhibits from Madame Tussauds Room of Horrors

In 1795, the woman married the engineer Francois Tussaud. Due to her husband's addiction to gambling and alcohol, the marriage did not last long, and Anna-Maria left for the UK. There she replenished her collection with wax figures of English politicians and arranged exhibitions in different cities. Subsequently, she received British citizenship and at the age of 74 opened a stationary museum in London. All the most famous people of the era were immortalized by Madame Tussauds, and people visited the exposition in droves.

Self-portrait of Madame Tussauds at the age of 81

Even as a famous and wealthy lady, Tussauds continued to work with executioners to make death masks for serial killers and notorious criminals. This is how the “room of horrors” appeared in the museum with their figures and sculptures of the victims of the French Revolution. Sometimes Madame Tussauds herself led tours for visitors. In a room with a guillotine and figures of the executed French, she said: “On the orders of the leaders of the revolution, I had to make wax casts from the heads thrown by the executioner into the basket. Just cut off by this weapon. But they are all my friends, and I would like not to part with them.

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum London

The Tussauds Museum continued its own life after the death of the founder, it was replenished with new exhibits and opened branches around the world.

Madame Tussauds is the most popular and largest wax museum in the world. It exhibits more than 1000 exhibits of such different eras. The main building is located in the Marylebone area of London, and its branches are "scattered" around the world.

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The history of this amazing place began almost 2 centuries ago on Baker Street (1835). However, like any story, it had its own fascinating backstory, which originated in the workshop of Dr. Curtis.

Born in Strasbourg in 1761.
He spent his childhood in France in the house of Dr. Philip Curtis (Tussaud's mother helped him run the household)
Dr. Curtis first dealt with anatomical models in wax, and then with figures; the girl became his apprentice
She created her first wax figure at the age of 16 (Voltaire)
Also famous works of Tussauds: Franklin, Rousseau, royal death masks
When Philip Curtis passed away, he left his work to Mary

History of the Museum

Tussauds moved from France to London in 1802. In the early years of its existence, the wax exhibition was mobile and traveled around the Irish and British lands. Subsequently (1835), the sons managed to persuade their mother to settle in Baker Street. Londoners enthusiastically accepted the museum.

The Cabinet of Horrors, which was released in 1845 and continues to exist to this day, played a huge role in gaining fame for the museum. In the office were put on display: the figures of recognizable criminals and murderers of that time, as well as a collection of death masks of those who died from the Paris guillotine.

The collection of exhibits grew. There was a need for a larger space. Ultimately, in 1884, the museum changed its location to Marylebone Road. There he remained.

big fire

In 1925, a massive fire broke out in the building. Most of the exhibits were destroyed. However, the owners of the museum were very lucky: the forms remained intact, thanks to which they managed to restore the lost copies.

The invaluable contribution of the Tussaud brothers

After the death of Madame Tussauds in 1850, the museum was inherited by her sons. The contribution of the brothers to the continuation of the work of the mother is invaluable. Previously, the shelf life of the exhibits was only a few years. The heirs made tremendous efforts to find a way to extend the "life" of the figures. And found. The technology was patented, and is used almost unchanged to this day.

Museum today

In our century, when creating wax exhibits, modern technologies are used: a skin that looks like a real one, special plastic for forming nails and eyes of figures.

Moreover, at the present time, to recreate the atmosphere of expositions, the following are used:

Voice simulation using computer technology
Adding additional sound effects
Animated paintings in the background of the models
Some exhibits are even capable of movement and reaction to visitors.

Wax Jennifer Lopez even blushes from the indiscreet looks of visitors.

Relevance of exhibits

Currently, the museum is filled not only with figures of historical figures, but also scientists, artists, politicians and other recognizable personalities and characters. Models of Madame Tussauds are always interesting and relevant. The appearance of new exhibits is solemn, noisy, with many guests and even with the presence of the press. And the figures disappear as soon as the original prototypes lose their relevance - modestly and imperceptibly.

With wax figures, you can even take pictures in an embrace or kiss on the cheek. The administration, despite the wear of especially relevant models, has nothing against it.

Museum pride and innovation

"Spirit of London" is perhaps the most interesting exposition of the museum. It shows scenes from the life of London, belonging to different eras. From the reign of Elizabeth of England to the present.

A few years ago, a 4D show with Marvel superheroes appeared at the museum - children are delighted with this innovation. This is a 10-minute film featuring famous comic book characters. 4D technology is an addition to the usual 3D special effects for all of us: moving chairs, wind, splashes.

In addition, thematic films are shown on very large screens, allowing you to plunge into the atmosphere of different historical eras of London: from the Great Fire of 1666 to the 20th century.

It would seem that children's entertainment, but most travelers consider Madame Tussauds an integral part of the London tourist program.

Ticket prices, address and opening hours

The information is indicative, the price tag is taken on a weekday in November from the official website of Madame Tussauds. Prices are in pounds.

You can check the prices for the scheduled day of visit (including weekends) and what entertainment program is included in the price of standard and premium tickets on the official website of Madame Tussauds.

Address: Marylebone Road, London, London NW15LR

Opening hours in November:

Mon. - Fri.: 9:30-17:30
Sat, Sun: 9:00-18:00
November 28 change in the schedule: 9:00-17:30

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum is located in London and is considered one of the most interesting museums in. Its creator is Marie Tussaud. Marie Grosholtz, after the marriage of Tussauds, was a native of Strasbourg, lived with her mother first in Bern, and then moved to Paris. She learned the craft of wax-working from Philip Wilhelm Curtius, for whom her mother worked as a housekeeper. At first, anatomical models were his profile, but then he began to create sculptures of people. Marie Tussaud soon surpassed her teacher.

First wax figure of Madame Tussauds was very accurate and precise. She was very good at portraying the great people of that time. Its first figures were Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. After the sculptures were successful, the royal family invited the girl to create their figures. Thanks to good relations with the royal family, Marie was called to where she taught art to members of the royal family.

Over time, Marie Tussaud's collection of wax figures grew in popularity. In 1802, Marie left on a tour of Great Britain and never returned to Paris. With her figures, she traveled around Ireland and Great Britain. Only in 1835 did she settle in one place and open a permanent exhibition in London on Baker Street. This first museum madam Tussauds. It houses the sculpture of Marie Tussaud, which she made herself. The collection of wax figures moved to Marylebone Road in 1884. Many figures were destroyed by fire in 1925, but thanks to the fact that Marie Tussaud kept all the forms, the sculptures were able to be restored.

Making death masks, creating figures of killers and victims, Marie Tussauds has collected a large number of creepy sculptures. They fill the “Cabinet of Horrors” in the museum. In it you can see sculptures of Walter Scott, Admiral Nelson, famous criminals, victims of the French Revolution and murderers.

Currently, the Madame Tussauds wax museum has more than a thousand wax figures. It brings together people of different professions and different eras. Any person will find a figure they like here among the sculptures of singers, actresses and actors, movie and TV series characters, world leaders, representatives of different religions, members of the royal family, astronauts and athletes. The museum also presents whole scenes of the life of people from different eras. The sculptures are so realistic that interest in them does not dry out.

Madame Tussauds celebrity wax figures are very popular, so any famous and popular person is always happy if his sculpture is exhibited in a museum.

How are wax figures created for Madame Tussauds? A team of twenty people works on each sculpture. It includes not only sculptors, but also dentists, hairdressers, stylists. To make the figure more realistic, they take a lot of photographs of the person whose sculpture will be made. Only natural hair is used, with each hair attached separately.

Each appearance of a new sculpture is accompanied by a large gathering of visitors and the press. If a sculpture of a person who is still alive is created, he is necessarily invited to the opening. Pictures of the sculpture and the “original” will never lose the interest of the public, as it is always interesting to analyze and compare. But it is especially interesting to look at the figures of those who have already left our world. Liked the article? Share with friends.

Madame Tussauds has a very touching history of creation. It all started back in 1761 in France. The mother of this amazing woman, after the death of her husband, was forced to move from Strasbourg to Berlin in search of work. She found it at the home of the physician Philip Curtius. The man had a very unusual hobby - the creation of wax figures. Mademoiselle liked this occupation so much that she decided to learn all its secrets and devote her life to this particular art form.

The first works of the young sculpture were put on public display in London in 1835 (in the northern part of Westminster). That's when the ancient museum was founded! After 49 years, he moved to a building on Marylebone Road, in the heart of the city. A few years later, almost nothing remained of the collection of figures; it was destroyed by fire. Madame Tussauds had to start over and reconstruct all the dolls. After the death of the owner of the wax "empire", the heirs of the sculptor took up its development. They have developed new technologies to prolong the "youth" of their statues.

Where is Madame Tussauds located?

The main exhibition hall is located in England, in the most prestigious area of London - Marylebone. But it also has branches in major US cities:

Los Angeles;
New York;
Las Vegas;
San Francisco;
Orlando.

In Asia, representative offices are located in Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok. Europe is also lucky - tourists can watch masterpiece sculptures in Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam, Vienna. Madame Tussauds became so popular that her work went far across the ocean to Australia. Unfortunately, they have not yet reached the CIS countries for 2017.

The exact address of the main Madame Tussauds museum is Marylebone Road London NW1 5LR. It is located in the building of the former planetarium. Nearby is Regent's Park, nearby is the subway station "Baker Street". It is convenient to get to the object by train or buses 82, 139, 274.

What can be seen inside?

The exposition includes more than 1000 figures from all over the world. Sculptures took their place in different branches of the museum:

actors
musicians;
politicians;
writers;
athletes (Maria Sharapova, Ronaldo and others, David Beckham is especially popular);
representatives of the English royal dynasty;
heroes of films and animated series and just famous personalities.

At the entrance to the central department of Madame Tussauds, guests are greeted by its owner in a modest attire "in her own person". During a tour of the exhibition halls, you can say hello to members of the legendary Beatles, take pictures with Michael Jackson, shake hands with Charlie Chaplin, exchange glances with Audrey Hepburn. For history buffs, there are two rooms reserved especially for Napoleon himself and his wife! The museum did not forget about those who devoted their lives to science and cultural activities. Among them:

Charles Dickens;

Shakespeare;
Pablo Picasso.

Naturally, members of the British royal family took pride of place in the London branch of Madame Tussauds. They seem to come to life pictures, it seems that Kate Middleton has just stepped out of the pages of the magazine, gently holding the hand of her husband, Prince William. And to the right of them stands the mistress of Buckingham Palace, the great Elizabeth II. Her company is strict Sir Harry. And where without Lady Diana!

Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Riana, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, the scandalous couple of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, confidently sitting on the couch, could not but appear in the museum.

Of no less interest are politicians:

Figures of Winston Churchill, Angela Merkel, Otto Von Bismarck are exhibited in the Berlin branch. Children will be delighted with the figures of Spider-Man, Superman, Wolverine, and cinema lovers will be able to pose against the backdrop of Jack Sparrow and Bond characters.

Which Russians are represented in the museum?

There are few Russians in Madame Tussauds museums. It is worth going to Amsterdam to see comrade Gorbachev and Lenin, the former, by the way, also found his place in New York, near Reagan. A sculpture of one of the presidents of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, is located in the London branch. Of the contemporary political figures of the Russian Federation, the museum masters decided to recreate only Vladimir Putin, whose statue adorns the exhibition hall in the UK and Thailand. These are the sculptures exhibited in various branches of the institution!

Horror Room: a brief description

This is what the museum is famous for in the first place. Entrance here is available only to people with a healthy heart and nerves, children and pregnant women do not belong here. Madame Tussauds inspired the horror room of her teacher to create this mystical corner. The situation here is extremely gloomy, here deceivers, traitors, thieves and even serial killers are pursuing at every step. One of the most popular is Jack the Ripper, who committed brutal murders on the streets of London in the late 19th century and remained uncaught.

In the room of fear, scenes of torture and executions that took place in the Middle Ages are very accurately recreated. Reality is given to them by real guillotines used during the Great French Revolution. All this chilling horror is complemented by the sounds of bones crunching under a hammer, cries for help, and the screams of prisoners. In general, before you go here, you should think a hundred times.

What impresses this place?

The sculptures exhibited in Madame Tussauds museums are real masterpieces. They are so similar to their originals that you won’t notice a fake in the photo. This effect allows the masters to achieve exact observance of all proportions of the body, height and build of the figure. Absolutely everything is taken into account - the color and length of the hair, the shape of the eyes, the shape of the nose, lips and eyebrows, individual facial features. Many of the mannequins are even wearing the same clothes as real stars.

Particularly inquisitive visitors can see with their own eyes how famous dolls are made. At the exhibition, you can look at the tools that the craftsmen need in their work, at the future elements of celebrity clones and accessories that will be used in the process. By the way, many of them are given by the stars themselves.

Helpful information

An interesting fact is that in Madame Tussauds it is allowed to take pictures with sculptures without any permission. You can touch them, shake their hands, hug them, and even kiss them. You can take at least a photo of all the exhibits! It will take at least an hour to view the collection. To be among this star beau monde, you need to pay 25 euros for a child and 30 for an adult at the box office.

Little trick! The price of tickets, subject to purchase on the official website of the museum, is approximately 25% lower.

The ticket price is also affected by the time of day, in the evening, after 17:00, it is somewhat cheaper. You also need to take into account the opening hours of the museum. From Monday to Friday, its doors are open from 10 am to 5:30 pm, and on weekends from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Excursions are extended for half an hour on holidays and for an hour during the tourist season, which lasts from mid-July to September.

It should be borne in mind that there are a lot of people who want to get to a famous place, so you will have to stand in line for at least an hour. This can be avoided if you buy a VIP ticket, which costs about 30% more than usual. For those who are going to purchase it online, it is not necessary to print the document, it is enough to present it at the entrance in electronic form. Don't forget to bring your ID card with you!

Madame Tussauds is not just a collection of wax figures, but a whole separate world with its inhabitants. No other place can meet so many stars at the same time! No matter how interesting the story about him, all this is definitely worth seeing with your own eyes.

Madame Tussauds museum today is the most famous wax museum in the world.

Today, in our photo review, we will present you the newest exhibits of the celebrity wax museum.

The legendary house of wax figures is located in London's Marylebone area. There are also 10 branches in major cities: Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Vienna, Berlin, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Washington DC and Amsterdam.

The founder of the museum is the sculptor Maria Tussaud.

Madame Marie Tussauds was born in Strasbourg in 1761. Her stepfather, Philippe Curthus, was passionate about making small busts out of wax. In those days, photography had not yet been invented, and the portrait of the artist was beyond the reach of ordinary people. Therefore, wax casts were very popular. Maria also became interested in wax figures.

In 1777, Marie Tussauds made a bust of the famous philosopher Voltaire. When Voltaire died, she became the sole owner of a unique wax cast. This wax figure was on display in a small family shop. The bust of Voltaire was very attractive to buyers and connoisseurs of this type of art.

Marie soon married Francois Tussauds. She gave birth to two sons. The family business grew and grew. Maria needed support from her husband, but he often began to drink and make family scandals. He also became interested in gambling.

Madame Tussauds celebrity wax collection has been constantly growing, with more and more challenges added. Soon, Maria, along with her sons, left for the capital of Great Britain - London. From this moment begins the history of creation Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.

The British, famous for their traditions and love for their history, immediately turned their attention to Mary's unusual passion. She started the UK and put on exhibitions. The collection, consisting of several dozen wax figures of famous people, which were incredibly difficult to distinguish from real ones, delighted all visitors.

Soon the sons offered their famous mother to establish a wax museum in a permanent place.

In 1835, they bought a house in the center of London on Baker Street and opened a museum in it. At that time, Madame Tussauds was already 75 years old.

The central exposition of the museum was the so-called room of fear. It collected figures of serial killers and the most terrible criminals of that time. The exhibition is constantly updated and replenished with new wax figures, therefore, coming to the museum again, you could see new heroes and celebrities.

Madame Marie Tussauds died in 1850. Her many years of work were inherited by her sons.

In 1884 the wax collection moved to Marylebone Road. After moving in 1925, a fire broke out in the house, which destroyed almost the entire collection of exhibits. However, the fire did not touch the molds for making wax figures, and they were reconstructed.

The business that was started by Marie Tussauds in the 17th century has turned into an entertainment empire in the 21st century. Today, the great-grandchildren of the legendary great-grandmother continue her work, opening new wax houses around the world and creating new exhibits.