Hunterian Museum reopens in London

Not to be confused with the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University (although that's also worth a look if you are attending the conference in person!), London's Hunteraian re-opens tomorrow (16th May) and is chock-full of exhibits that are relevant to our theme of Bodies on Display.

Follow the link below to read The Guardian's Oliver Wainwright write about John Hunter, his collection and the museum refurbishment.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/may/12/tooth-transplants-and-pickled-penises-inside-the-revamped-hunterian

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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...

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...

Abstract: Pickled Tritons: The Bodily Display of (Divine) Cryptids in the Roman Empire

Dr Ryan Denson - University of Exeter Pickled Tritons: The Bodily Display of (Divine) Cryptids in the Roman Empire Tritons, the mermen of the antiquity, could be imagined as inhabiting the natural world and as creatures one may even encounter, similar to modern notions of cryptid sightings. Pliny the Elder, for instance, reports that a Triton was seen playing a shell-trumpet in a cave during the reign of Tiberius ( Natural History, 9.4). As with ordinary marine life, their bodies were occasionally found and preserved as physical proof of their supposed existence. Thus, Aelian, in his History of Animals, discusses a Triton corpse on display at Tanagra (13.21), describing how a local man once suffered divine vengeance for profaning its body by cutting off some of the scales. Pausanias, viewing the same corpse a century earlier, presents two starkly different versions of how it came to reside in Tanagra ( Description of Greece , 9.20). He further tells of another Triton t...

Bodies on Display: Human, Animal and Cryptid Bodies from Antiquity to the Present

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