Eugen Sandow Statue, Brucciani workshop, 1901 (photo)

Eugen Sandow (1867-1925) born Friedrich Wilhelm Mueller; pioneering bodybuilder of Prussian origin who became a star for Ziegfeld's Follies in USA and is known today as the 'Father of Bodybuilding'; later organised the first major bodybuilding contest in London in 1901 at the Royal Albert Hall, with Arthur Conan Doyle as one of the judges; Eugen Sandow claimed to have built his body in emulation of specific sculptures, seen in sculpture museums. A cast of his body in a classical pose with all muscles flexed was commissioned by the British Museum of Natural History, executed by the company of Domenico Brucciani & Co and exhibited in the Museum in 1901 until its withdrawal from public view one year later due to complaints. Even after a fig leaf was added it was deemed too offensive;