Madame Tussauds Delhi is a wax museum and tourist attraction located on Regal Theatre in New Delhi, India.It is the twenty third location for the Tussauds , which was set up by sculptor Marie Tussaud.
Housed in the heritage building Regal Cinema, which shut its doors earlier this year to make way for this global attraction, the two-storeyed exhibition has been specifically designed and structured with Indians in mind. Enter, and you will be greeted by cricketers Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar, along with actor Richard Gere. Walk further to meet and greet Bollywood’s best with Salman Khan riding a rickshaw to Anil Kapoor from Slumdog Millionaire conducting Kaun Banega Crorepati?
The other sections/rooms have been divided into sports, history, bhangra, music and, eventually, a party of Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities. However, the exhibition is not solely visual. There are various interactive stations, where people can find out more about the wax model and also play some games. For instance, while posing with Marilyn Monroe, you can try out wigs matching her hair and even get yourself clicked in front of a vanity mirror placed right behind. Similarly, while checking out Milkha Singh’s wax model, you can play hockey or practise some shots as if you were there on the field with him. Moreover, there is a special section where you get personalised hand sculptures done and take them home. Making sure that the museum is accessible to all, the building has been made handicap-friendly along with functional lifts installed for all floors.
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The 'Girl with the Pearl Earring', also referred to as the 'Mona Lisa of the Low Countries', is one of the most famous paintings in the Netherlands. During the Dutch Golden Age, a significant shift occurred in both the technique of painting and in subject matter, particularly as secular subjects began to replace religious themes. Portraiture focused increasingly on ordinary people, like the man depicted in Rembrandt van Rijn’s Portrait of an Elderly Man. The sitter seems not to be posed, but presented in a matter-of-fact way that differs from the idealized formality of traditional portraiture. The hierarchical social structure in other European countries no longer monopolized art production in the Netherlands during this time, and as the middle class prospered, an unprecedented market for portraiture developed. Successful individuals, married couples, and civic leaders wanted likenesses to pass on to posterity.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis, published by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in collaboration with the Mauritshuis, The Hague. The volume guides readers through the highlights of the museum’s magnificent collection and features 35 masterpieces of portraiture, landscape, genre painting, history painting, and still life, each accompanied by text illuminating its context and significance. Curatorial essays provide an overview of the extraordinary world of the 17th century Dutch Republic, explore the history and future of the Mauritshuis building and collection, offer an in-depth look at Girl with a Pearl Earring, and chronicle fascinating conservation treatments and technical research undertaken by the museum on behalf of its treasures.
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