Wax Anatomical Model with Pretty Face

Often distinguished by a low-tech, documentary approach, Zoe Leonard’s photographs reveal what is generally forbidden or forgotten. Early in her career, she examined historical images of women. Wax Anatomical Model with Pretty Face—a photograph of a realistic wax female figure (with pubic hair, makeup, and a pearl necklace) whose internal organs are exposed for medical examination—poetically balances visceral fascination with feminist critique. Discovered by the artist at the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in Paris, the figure is clinical in its anatomical precision, but also perversely seductive; Leonard’s depiction juxtaposes desire and horror.