Paper short abstract:

This paper will address the confluence of scarred skins, wax models, sex workers, medical knowledge and syphilis treatments in the early 20th century hospital wards of Desterro, uphill from the brothels and street hustling neighborhoods Mouraria- Intendente in downtown Lisbon. Through the material evidence of 3-D models, clinical logbooks and physicians’ notes and diaries, I will analyze the articulation between state-of the-art medical knowledge, local clinical practices at the lived experience of syphilis for the sex-workers and other in- and outpatients of the hospital.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will address the confluence of scarred skins, wax models, sex workers, medical knowledge and syphilis treatments in the early 20th century hospital wards of Desterro, uphill from the brothels and street hustling neighborhoods Mouraria- Intendente in downtown Lisbon. While the clinic treated some of the most stigmatized diseases and patients,frequently with visible skin lesions,and often the social outcasts, and while the means were scarce and sometimes close to indigence, the techniques available were up-to-date with the most recent developments in international science. Through the material evidence of 3-D models, clinical logbooks and physicians' notes and diaries, I will analyze the articulation between state-of the-art medical knowledge, local clinical practices at the lived experience of syphilis for the sex-workers and other in- and outpatients of the hospital.