Otros espacios de sociabilidad ilustrada: el gabinete de cera

Abstract

Wax sculpture lacks academic prestige, partly because of the populist quality of today's wax museums, and for this reason its tremendous social and artistic impact after its resurgence in the second half of the eighteenth century can be underestimated. At the Spanish court, scientific collections of anatomical figures, and portraits of historical and contemporary figures respectively were amassed. Both types of wax were enjoyed by the Spanish monarchs, notably Carlos IV and María Luisa, in whose portraits by Goya one can sense this new pleasure in the Age of the Enlightenment.

Wax sculpture lacks academic prestige, partly because of the populist quality of today's wax museums, and for this reason its tremendous social and artistic impact after its resurgence in the second half of the eighteenth century can be underestimated. At the Spanish court, scientific collections of anatomical figures, and portraits of historical and contemporary figures respectively were amassed. Both types of wax were enjoyed by the Spanish monarchs, notably Carlos IV and María Luisa, in whose portraits by Goya one can sense this new pleasure in the Age of the Enlightenment.

El desprestigio académico de la escultura en cera, debido a la repulsión que provoca su decadencia y al carácter popular de los museos, ha hecho que no se haya tenido en cuenta el tremendo impacto social y artístico que tuvo el resurgir de este arte, a partir de la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII. En la corte española, se pusieron de moda tanto los gabinetes científicos con figuras anatomizadas, como los gabinetes de retratos de personajes famosos, históricos, y contemporáneos. Ambos fueron espacios de sociabilidad disfrutados con fruición, especialmente por los reyes Carlos IV y María Luisa, en cuyo retrato de familia, pintado por Goya, se puede rastrear la huella de este nuevo placer del Siglo de las Luces.

Keywords:

• WAX FIGURES
• SOCIABILITY
• EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
• SPAIN
• FRANCISCO DE GOYA