Philippe Curtius Philippe Curtius Philippe Curtius (1737–1794) was a Swiss physician and wax modeller who taught Marie Tussaud the art of wax modelling. Marie Grosholtz, the future Marie Tussaud, lived in the Berne home of Curtius, for whom her mother acted as housekeeper. Marie called him 'Uncle', and in many ways he was a father figure. Curtius used his skill in wax modelling to illustrate anatomy as a physician, and sometimes for the entertainment of visitors. Later, he started to do portraits. Curtius created beautiful anatomical wax models that were admired by the Prince de Conti. In 1765, Curtius was persuaded to
Marie Tussaud XVI, Marie Antoinette, Marat, and Robespierre. When Curtius died in 1794, he left his collection of wax works to Tussaud. In 1795, she married François Tussaud, a civil engineer. The couple had three children, a daughter who died after birth, and two sons, Joseph and François. In 1802, after the Treaty of Amiens, Tussaud went to London with her son Joseph, then four years old, to present her collection of portraits. She had accepted an invitation from Paul Philidor, a magic lantern and phantasmagoria pioneer, to exhibit her work alongside his show at the Lyceum Theatre. She did not fare