Skip to main content

Abstract: Pathological Bodies: Visitor attitudes towards the display of historical potted specimens at two British medical museums.

Aoife Sutton-Butler (PhD Candidate, School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, University of Bradford) 

Pathological Bodies: Visitor attitudes towards the display of historical potted specimens at two British medical museums.

 

Across Britain many educational and public institutions hold collections of historical anatomical and pathological fluid preserved potted human remains, sometimes referred to as ‘wet specimens.’ This paper will present data collected at the Surgeons Hall Museum (Edinburgh) and the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garrett (London) on the display of these types of human remains. One hundred and forty visitors were surveyed on the display of these human remains and comments from the visitor’s book were also analysed. Although these collections are still being used in teaching and research, some authors have called them ‘obsolete’ (Lee and Strkalj 2017). Potted specimen collections were the focus of the study for several reasons. They were considered the most valuable type of specimen by anatomists in the 18th century, and they still require a skill set which is not widely specialised in (Moore 2005; Bocaege et al 2013). These collections are also unique in appearance as they have soft tissue attached, despite being a couple of hundred years old. They are different to the archaeological remains on display in museums which are skeletonised or mummified in appearance and are sometimes used to compliment osteology students in the teaching of paleopathology (University of Bradford). The visitor surveys revealed that the public finds these collections interesting, not upsetting to see on display, and that they often ‘see themselves’ in these collections through shared pathologies. Anatomical and pathological potted specimens of the past have the potential to open up conversations linked to themes such as death, ethics, organ donation, the body on display, the preserved body, and socioeconomic status (Richardson 2006).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conference Programme

Programme 09:00 - 09:15 Welcome and intro Dr Jane Draycott, University of Glasgow 09:15-10:15 Keynote Prof Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University 10:15-11:15 Panel 1: Metamorphosis of Bodies Dr Tanika Koosmen, University of Newcastle, Australia [Dis]Playing Changing Bodies: Metamorphic Greco-Roman Myths as “Display” of Form Dr Ryan Denson, University of Exeter: Pickled Tritons: The Bodily Display of (Divine) Cryptids in the Roman Empire COFFEE BREAK 11:15 – 11:30 11:30 - 12:30 Panel 2: First Impressions/Judgement of Bodies Jasmine Sahu-Hough, PhD candidate - Yale University: “The Sort of Man You All See Me To Be”: Visible Disability and Citizenship in Classical Athens Dr Dan Mills, Georgia Institute of Technology: Physiognomic Disability in Literary, Statuarial, and Numismatic Depictions of Claudius 12:30 - 13:30 Panel 3: Bodies of Servants Dr Anastasia Meintani, Universität Wien: Bodily Display in the Context of the Banquet Shreya Sharma, Independent Scholar: Visual Arts and British Impe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abstract (keynote speaker): Mythic Creatures and Captive Amazons

  Prof. Adrienne Mayor. Stanford University. Mythic Creatures and Captive Amazons  Motives for and responses to displays of extraordinary bodies in antiquity trace a continuum.   Bodily otherness could elicit negative feelings of disgust and superiority, at one end of the spectrum, and at the other end a sense of wonder and compassion. Motivations could include sensational entertainment, curiosity, domination, and scientific interest. To illustrate the complex diversity of intentions and reactions, my talk looks at how artistic images, literary descriptions, and public exhibits of mythic creatures (Centaurs, Griffins, and the Minotaur); wild animals captured for the Roman arena; anomalous and enslaved humans; and Amazons and female warriors in captivity aroused a range of emotions in viewers. Ancient Greek and Roman artists evoked empathy for hybrid monsters by focusing on their human features and/or their familiar, endearing animal behaviors. Unlike the Greeks, the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abstract: [Dis]Playing Changing Bodies: Metamorphic Greco-Roman Myths as ‘Display’ of Form

  [Dis]Playing Changing Bodies: Metamorphic Greco-Roman Myths as ‘Display’ of Form Dr Tanika Koosmen University of Newcastle, Australia. tanika.koosmen@newcastle.edu.au The historical narrative of displayed bodies in a variety of contexts – freak shows, museum display of human remains, even as far as drag shows – finds its philosophical origins in the traditions of Greco-Roman mythological metamorphosis. To display a body is to be aware of its physicality, its metaphorical makeup, and its human/nonhuman subjectivity. In the Greek and Latin myths of transformation, exemplified by 1 st century CE Latin poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses , the display of the human and nonhuman form pre-empts the approach validated in later display traditions. When displaying a body that traverses the line between human and nonhuman, object and subject, these categorical violations must be considered: display of the metamorphosised form in literature is the early origins of these discussions, such as the ...
Post a Comment
Read more