'Mick Jagger' on display at new museum in Prague

'Mick Jagger' on display at new museum in Prague

It may not move like Jagger, but it sure does look like him.

This wax figure, fashioned after legendary Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, is one of about 80 statues of contemporary and historical celebrities that are on display at the newly-opened Musée Grévin (Grévin Museum) in Prague.

The French wax figure museum recently opened its third location, and second branch outside France, in the capital of the Czech Republic.

All the statues at the Musée Grévin Prague, which opened last Thursday, were shipped from the museum's Paris workshop.

Along with the likes of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and actor George Clooney, are famous Czechs such as footballer Petr Cech, author Franz Kafka and politician Vaclav Havel.

The museum's website states that it takes 150 hours to sculpt a single face in clay, with live sittings or photographs for reference, to create a wax mould, and 42 hours to make up the final wax cast with oil paint.

500,000 STRANDS

Each strand of hair is implanted individually, with some 500,000 strands needed.

Glass eyes are medical-grade and often selected with the model in person while teeth are made by dental specialists.

If possible, props and clothing are from the celebrities themselves, or made by their favourite dressmakers. Historical costumes are custom-made.

But the new museum is in a competitive neighbourhood.

The Prague Post reported that the museum is located on the same street as the Wax Museum Prague, which is in partnership with and currently hosting a Hollywood exhibit from British-based rival waxwork exhibitor Madame Tussauds.

Some of the stars, including Kafka and Clooney, are on display at both venues.

But visitors are likely to have different experiences at both.

Wax Museum Prague has lower ticket prices but a smaller set-up. Musée Grévin features elaborately-designed "worlds" but higher admission prices.

The first Musée Grévin opened in Paris in 1882.

Journalist Arthur Meyer and artist Alfred Grévin started the project with the aim of letting people see celebrities from the news, during a time when newspapers did not feature photographs.

This article was published on May 9 in The New Paper.

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