About Me

I'm a PhD student researching the role of the archaeological dead in contemporary British society. Think of this as a scrapbook of all the interesting links, snippets of information and random bits and bobs I come across pertaining to death, dying and the dead. Enjoy?!

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    thisbelongsinamuseum: This tumblr has a love/hate relationship with all things wax. I guess I’m like all the idiots out there who fall for the ridiculousness of wax museum tourist traps. I should know better. After all I’m a museologist. But what’s not to love about La Specola, the world’s largest and best known wax anatomical collection? Opened in 1775, it is the oldest museum in Europe. What started as the personal collection of the Medici family  (who were the Kardashians of their day) the museum has grown to over 34 rooms with displays that include a 17th century stuffed hippopotamus, now extinct specimens and the famous Venuses. If you have a thing for wax models of naked women posed in old-fashioned semi-erotic poses, but with their rib cages and stomachs pulled open, then you have something in common with the Marquis de Sade. These gutted female forms were his personal favorite. Why of course. But in all seriousness, the anatomical waxes were important in the teaching of medicine during the 17th century. The collection is still famous worldwide for the incredible accuracy and realism of the details, copied from real corpses (probably stolen). It is now part of the Museum of Zoology and Natural History in Florence. Oh, if you were ever curious what you’d look like without your skin, now you do. I’m glad I could help. Remember to moisturize everyday.

    thisbelongsinamuseum:

    This tumblr has a love/hate relationship with all things wax. I guess I’m like all the idiots out there who fall for the ridiculousness of wax museum tourist traps. I should know better. After all I’m a museologist. But what’s not to love about La Specola, the world’s largest and best known wax anatomical collection? Opened in 1775, it is the oldest museum in Europe. What started as the personal collection of the Medici family  (who were the Kardashians of their day) the museum has grown to over 34 rooms with displays that include a 17th century stuffed hippopotamus, now extinct specimens and the famous Venuses. If you have a thing for wax models of naked women posed in old-fashioned semi-erotic poses, but with their rib cages and stomachs pulled open, then you have something in common with the Marquis de Sade. These gutted female forms were his personal favorite. Why of course. But in all seriousness, the anatomical waxes were important in the teaching of medicine during the 17th century. The collection is still famous worldwide for the incredible accuracy and realism of the details, copied from real corpses (probably stolen). It is now part of the Museum of Zoology and Natural History in Florence.

    Oh, if you were ever curious what you’d look like without your skin, now you do. I’m glad I could help. Remember to moisturize everyday.

    (Source: thisbelongsinamuseum)