History of Latin American Dermatology

CÉSAR IVÁN VARELA HERNÁNDEZwhich years ago might have been termed a “mystery,” each one shall be free to resort tobeliefs, spirituality, imagination or convictions” 48 .Wax molds: the Dermatological Wax Museumof the National University of ColombiaCOLLABORATOR: Michel Faizal GeageaFigure 65. Waxpiece: PapularcrustysyphilisIn the 1930s, at the National University in Bogotá, Manuel José Silva createdthe Dermatological Wax Museum, with the aim of having it provide study materialsat the Medical School. Along with other professors of the time, he assigned themanufacture of the wax pieces to the sculptor Lisandro Morero Parra and to themaster G. Restrepo, who engaged in prior training in France, which already possessedmagnificent museums. The masters created more than 300 sculptures oftropical, infectious and venereal diseases, on a 1:1 scale, keeping secret themethod of working with the wax and achieving a surprising realism (Figure 65).I transcribe parts of a communication by Guillermo Gutiérrez Aldana to MichelFaizal Geagea, Head of the Dermatology Service and of the Department of InternalMedicine, that illustrates the beauty of the work: “Prof. Guillermo Pardo Villalba,who on many occasions witnessed the manufacture of these pieces, told me thatthe artist carried out a strict cleaning with antiseptics of that time; afterwards heapplied a gypsum putty which he himself prepared secretly, allowed it to dry, andcarefully removed it. In it he poured paraffin wax of a color similar to that of the patient.The mask being obtained he colored it in front of the patient with tints chosen accordingto the clinical features of the selected lesion, giving it a truly surprising realism. The figuresthus obtained were placed and fastened on wooden slats, labeled, classified andtaken to display cases for exhibition and teaching 15 .The sculptures, located in the pavilions of the St. John of God Hospital, served for manyyears for the delectation of professors and students during Dermatology lessons; but modernism,the creation of photographic albums and afterwards of slides, caused the pieces inthe Wax Museum to fall into academic disuse. In 1960, Prof. Gutiérrez Aldana rescued theMuseum and transferred it to the St. Peter pavilion of the St. John of God Hospital, butwhen he retired from the service in 1979, it was once again abandoned. In 1995, when thehospital was closed down, it was transferred to the place it now occupies at the Museumof Medical History of the National University’s Medical School, under the care of directorEmilio Quevedo and medical student Alaín Alexander Camacho. Currently Dr. Faizal is devotedlycarrying out the restoration and recovery of such a valuable historical jewel.If this brief historical summary of Dermatology in Colombia, from the millennial wisdomof the Indians to that of our contemporaries, has recreated their moments of readingand contributed to the knowledge about our field in Latin America, it will be a sourceof satisfaction to all of us who in one way or another have contributed to preparing it. ■September 2005AcknowledgementsAcknowledgements to dermatologist colleaguesAlfonso Rebolledo Muñoz, Álvaro Arévalo Durán, Álvaro Correa Sánchez, Álvaro EnriqueAcosta Madiedo de Hart, Ángela Zuluaga de Cadena, Armando Vásquez Lobo,146