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?!

Instagram Shots

    See more

    More liked posts

    Catholic blood exhibition opens in Londonderry A controversial contemporary artist from Russia will open his exhibition Catholic Blood at the Void gallery in Londonderry on Saturday. Andrei Molodkin, who intends to boil human cadavers for future exhibitions, has already signed up volunteers who will donate their blood for the unusual installation. The pumps are already popping in the basement room of the Void Gallery in Derry, circulating blood around his replica of the rose window at Westminster Abbey. The window is seen by Molodkin as a Protestant symbol. In the adjoining room he has created a sculpture based on the rose window at the Houses of Parliament. According to the artist’s interpretation of the British constitutional tradition, a British prime minister must be Protestant, a tradition he hopes to highlight, and query. Mr Molodkin has chosen to pump blood donated solely by Catholics through these symbols to illustrate the point. (Source: BBC News)

    Catholic blood exhibition opens in Londonderry

    A controversial contemporary artist from Russia will open his exhibition Catholic Blood at the Void gallery in Londonderry on Saturday.

    Andrei Molodkin, who intends to boil human cadavers for future exhibitions, has already signed up volunteers who will donate their blood for the unusual installation.

    The pumps are already popping in the basement room of the Void Gallery in Derry, circulating blood around his replica of the rose window at Westminster Abbey. The window is seen by Molodkin as a Protestant symbol.

    In the adjoining room he has created a sculpture based on the rose window at the Houses of Parliament.

    According to the artist’s interpretation of the British constitutional tradition, a British prime minister must be Protestant, a tradition he hopes to highlight, and query.

    Mr Molodkin has chosen to pump blood donated solely by Catholics through these symbols to illustrate the point.

    (Source: BBC News)

    Pompeii exhibition: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, British Museum, review The British Museum’s stunning new exhibition transports the visitor back to the days before disaster struck the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, says Richard Dorment. At the entrance to this show, isolated from the main body of exhibits, we encounter a glass vitrine containing three objects. The first is a plaster cast of a dog, its grotesquely convulsed body evidence of the agony in which it died. Almost more horrible, its collar tells us that it was probably a guard dog left tethered to its place when Pompeii was buried in volcanic debris. The second and third objects are from Herculaneum – a wooden table turned by extreme heat into charcoal, and a fragment of fresco showing a banquet where a table of the same design is in use. Wall labels explain that when Vesuvius erupted in the late summer or autumn of AD 79, a dense black cloud shot into the sky. Volcanic ash and pumice then rained down on Pompeii, killing those who were still out of doors or burying the ones who had stayed inside when roofs and walls collapsed. Even more lethal was a later volcanic emission called a pyroclastic surge. A swift avalanche of superheated gas, ash and pumice, its extreme heat essentially cooked people and animals buried under volcanic debris. In Herculaneum, where there had been no build-up of ash and pumice, the pyroclastic surge was the sole cause of death. Annihilation happened instantaneously. The population was simply incinerated. Read more here.

    Pompeii exhibition: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, British Museum, review

    The British Museum’s stunning new exhibition transports the visitor back to the days before disaster struck the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum, says Richard Dorment.

    At the entrance to this show, isolated from the main body of exhibits, we encounter a glass vitrine containing three objects. The first is a plaster cast of a dog, its grotesquely convulsed body evidence of the agony in which it died. Almost more horrible, its collar tells us that it was probably a guard dog left tethered to its place when Pompeii was buried in volcanic debris. The second and third objects are from Herculaneum – a wooden table turned by extreme heat into charcoal, and a fragment of fresco showing a banquet where a table of the same design is in use.

    Wall labels explain that when Vesuvius erupted in the late summer or autumn of AD 79, a dense black cloud shot into the sky. Volcanic ash and pumice then rained down on Pompeii, killing those who were still out of doors or burying the ones who had stayed inside when roofs and walls collapsed. Even more lethal was a later volcanic emission called a pyroclastic surge. A swift avalanche of superheated gas, ash and pumice, its extreme heat essentially cooked people and animals buried under volcanic debris.

    In Herculaneum, where there had been no build-up of ash and pumice, the pyroclastic surge was the sole cause of death. Annihilation happened instantaneously. The population was simply incinerated.

    Read more here.

    King Richard III exhibition attracts 15,000 in two weeks An exhibition about the archaeological dig for Richard III’s remains has attracted 15,000 visitors in its first two weeks. The display at Leicester’s Guildhall explains the story behind the search for the lost monarch under a council car park in the city. It also explains the scientific evidence which led to remains found last year being identified as the king. The venue normally attracts about 37,000 visitors over an entire year. Visitors have queued around the building for the free exhibition, which is expected to remain at the Guildhall for about a year, until a permanent visitors’ centre opens. Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby said: “These extraordinary visitor numbers show how much the Richard III story has captured the imagination of people across Leicester, Leicestershire and beyond. Read more here!

    King Richard III exhibition attracts 15,000 in two weeks

    An exhibition about the archaeological dig for Richard III’s remains has attracted 15,000 visitors in its first two weeks.

    The display at Leicester’s Guildhall explains the story behind the search for the lost monarch under a council car park in the city.

    It also explains the scientific evidence which led to remains found last year being identified as the king.

    The venue normally attracts about 37,000 visitors over an entire year.

    Visitors have queued around the building for the free exhibition, which is expected to remain at the Guildhall for about a year, until a permanent visitors’ centre opens.

    Leicester mayor Peter Soulsby said: “These extraordinary visitor numbers show how much the Richard III story has captured the imagination of people across Leicester, Leicestershire and beyond.

    Read more here!

    ‘Curious anatomys’: an extraordinary story of dissection and discovery

    Until 31 December 2012
    Royal College of Physicians, first floor gallery exhibition
    Open Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm
    Free entry

    The Royal College of Physicians holds a rare set of six anatomical tables.

    The tables are visually spectacular. They display human veins, nerves and arteries dissected at Padua’s famous anatomy theatre in the 17th century, skilfully arranged on varnished wooden panels.

    For the first time in their history, the tables are on full public display.

    (Source: rcplondon.ac.uk)

    A funeral director’s view on Death: A Self-Portrait The Wellcome Trust’s exhibition of death-related artefacts could have done with more on funeral practices and rituals, says funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer Some of the war imagery in this show – especially Otto Dix’s drawing of shock troops marching in gas masks – made me think about the work I do repatriating deceased servicemen. I’ve been out to Afghanistan and Iraq (I’ve even come under mortar fire), so I can imagine how it might feel to be in such dangerous circumstances. Although soldiers might see death as an almost natural extension of their work, their families certainly don’t. I’ve met thousands of mothers who’ve lost their sons. I never tell them I know how they feel. How can I possibly know that? The art collector Richard Harris must be a very macabre fellow. He’s amassed more than 1,000 artefacts relating to death, the best of which feature in this very interesting show. The majority – like a lovely painting of Napoleon as half-man, half-skeleton – touch upon our fear of death. I’m not afraid of death myself: as a Christian, I believe I’m going to a better place. When I was younger, though, I found it difficult telling people what I did. But having spent a lifetime in the business, I now think most people understand that our job is really much more about the living, being a source of comfort to them. I’d have liked to see more about funeral services and their many rituals. At FA Albin & Sons, we conduct funerals in the Victorian tradition: we never have red and white flowers (they represent blood and bandages); we never allow petals to fall from the back of the hearse; and we never tip our hats to a mourner, since that might indicate that it’s their turn next. We lift our hats instead. There’s another tradition, from Scotland, called “sin-eating”. The poorest man in a village would be given bread and water that had touched the corpse, in order to draw out sin. We don’t do that today, but it’s this kind of detail about funerals – which I see as a communal act of mercy and a sign of a civilised society – that’s missing from this exhibition. • Barry Albin-Dyer is owner of FA Albin & Sons Funeral Directors (albins.co.uk). Death: A Self-Portrait is at the Wellcome Collection, London NW1, until 24 February. If you’re anywhere near London, do go and check out this exhibition (and Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men at the Museum of London), it’s fabulous!

    A funeral director’s view on Death: A Self-Portrait

    The Wellcome Trust’s exhibition of death-related artefacts could have done with more on funeral practices and rituals, says funeral director Barry Albin-Dyer

    Some of the war imagery in this show – especially Otto Dix’s drawing of shock troops marching in gas masks – made me think about the work I do repatriating deceased servicemen. I’ve been out to Afghanistan and Iraq (I’ve even come under mortar fire), so I can imagine how it might feel to be in such dangerous circumstances. Although soldiers might see death as an almost natural extension of their work, their families certainly don’t. I’ve met thousands of mothers who’ve lost their sons. I never tell them I know how they feel. How can I possibly know that?

    The art collector Richard Harris must be a very macabre fellow. He’s amassed more than 1,000 artefacts relating to death, the best of which feature in this very interesting show. The majority – like a lovely painting of Napoleon as half-man, half-skeleton – touch upon our fear of death. I’m not afraid of death myself: as a Christian, I believe I’m going to a better place. When I was younger, though, I found it difficult telling people what I did. But having spent a lifetime in the business, I now think most people understand that our job is really much more about the living, being a source of comfort to them.

    I’d have liked to see more about funeral services and their many rituals. At FA Albin & Sons, we conduct funerals in the Victorian tradition: we never have red and white flowers (they represent blood and bandages); we never allow petals to fall from the back of the hearse; and we never tip our hats to a mourner, since that might indicate that it’s their turn next. We lift our hats instead.

    There’s another tradition, from Scotland, called “sin-eating”. The poorest man in a village would be given bread and water that had touched the corpse, in order to draw out sin. We don’t do that today, but it’s this kind of detail about funerals – which I see as a communal act of mercy and a sign of a civilised society – that’s missing from this exhibition.

    • Barry Albin-Dyer is owner of FA Albin & Sons Funeral Directors (albins.co.uk). Death: A Self-Portrait is at the Wellcome Collection, London NW1, until 24 February.

    If you’re anywhere near London, do go and check out this exhibition (and Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men at the Museum of London), it’s fabulous!

    Death: A Self-portrait 15 November 2012 - 24 February 2013 Our major winter exhibition showcases some 300 works from a unique collection devoted to the iconography of death and our complex and contradictory attitudes towards it. Assembled by Richard Harris, a former antique print dealer based in Chicago, the collection is spectacularly diverse, including art works, historical artefacts, scientific specimens and ephemera from across the world. Rare prints by Rembrandt, Dürer and Goya will be displayed alongside anatomical drawings, war art and antique metamorphic postcards; human remains will be juxtaposed with Renaissance vanitas paintings and twentieth century installations celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead. From a group of ancient Incan skulls, to a spectacular chandelier made of 3000 plaster-cast bones by British artist Jodie Carey, this singular collection, by turns disturbing, macabre and moving, opens a window upon our enduring desire to make peace with death. A full events programme will accompany the exhibition, as well as a beautifully designed keepsake publication featuring a selection of images from the Richard Harris Collection. So excited to see this! 

    Death: A Self-portrait

    15 November 2012 - 24 February 2013

    Our major winter exhibition showcases some 300 works from a unique collection devoted to the iconography of death and our complex and contradictory attitudes towards it. Assembled by Richard Harris, a former antique print dealer based in Chicago, the collection is spectacularly diverse, including art works, historical artefacts, scientific specimens and ephemera from across the world. Rare prints by Rembrandt, Dürer and Goya will be displayed alongside anatomical drawings, war art and antique metamorphic postcards; human remains will be juxtaposed with Renaissance vanitas paintings and twentieth century installations celebrating Mexico’s Day of the Dead. From a group of ancient Incan skulls, to a spectacular chandelier made of 3000 plaster-cast bones by British artist Jodie Carey, this singular collection, by turns disturbing, macabre and moving, opens a window upon our enduring desire to make peace with death.

    A full events programme will accompany the exhibition, as well as a beautifully designed keepsake publication featuring a selection of images from the Richard Harris Collection.

    So excited to see this! 

    Museum of London showcases ‘bodysnatchers’ Many surgeons in early 19th Century London faced a stark choice: should they hone their skills on stolen corpses or practise on their living patients? The gruesome quest for bodies to dissect is explored in a major new exhibition at the Museum of London. The display highlights the gruesome trade of “resurrection men”, plundering graveyards to meet demand from the city’s anatomy and medical schools. Surgery in the early 1800s was a brutal business. The standard treatment for a broken bone was amputation. There was no anaesthetic or antiseptic. There was a risk of death from blood loss or infection, even after successful operations. These procedures demanded speed and precision, but that in turn demanded practice. In the early 1800s the only legal source of bodies for dissection was executed criminals, transported straight from the gallows. Yet by 1820 London had four major hospitals offering dissection classes and 17 private anatomy schools. For many, obtaining bodies for dissection was a problem. All too often the solution was provided by gangs of grave robbers, raiding cemeteries and offering corpses for cash. Some even resorted to murder. These were the “resurrection men”. Full story here.

    Museum of London showcases ‘bodysnatchers’

    Many surgeons in early 19th Century London faced a stark choice: should they hone their skills on stolen corpses or practise on their living patients?

    The gruesome quest for bodies to dissect is explored in a major new exhibition at the Museum of London.

    The display highlights the gruesome trade of “resurrection men”, plundering graveyards to meet demand from the city’s anatomy and medical schools.

    Surgery in the early 1800s was a brutal business. The standard treatment for a broken bone was amputation. There was no anaesthetic or antiseptic. There was a risk of death from blood loss or infection, even after successful operations.

    These procedures demanded speed and precision, but that in turn demanded practice. In the early 1800s the only legal source of bodies for dissection was executed criminals, transported straight from the gallows.

    Yet by 1820 London had four major hospitals offering dissection classes and 17 private anatomy schools. For many, obtaining bodies for dissection was a problem.

    All too often the solution was provided by gangs of grave robbers, raiding cemeteries and offering corpses for cash. Some even resorted to murder. These were the “resurrection men”.
    Full story here.
    Replica skeleton of Elephant Man Merrick on show at Royal London The skeleton created from digital 3D scans of his fragile remains is on display at the Royal London Hospital’s museum from 10am. Scientists are planning to extract and test DNA from Merrick’s bones which are held in the private pathology collection nearby at the London School of Medicine in Whitechapel. Merrick, who died in 1890 at the age of 27, was cared for until the end of his life at The London Hospital by surgeon Frederick Treves. His bones were later kept at the medical school in the hope that one day they might help research. The new replica is part of an exhibition about Merrick which includes his hat and mask, photographs and an intricate paper model of a church he made while living at the hospital. It reflects the remarkable life that Merrick led, despite his disabilities and lack of treatment available at the time. Experts now suspect Merrick’s disorder was Proteus syndrome, a rare medical problem that causes bones, skin and other tissue to grow excessively in parts of the body, causing severe disfigurement. American researchers have since identified a genetic cause of Proteus. Now researchers at the medical school, part of the University of London’s Queen Mary College, hope to confirm finally that Merrick’s condition was Proteus syndrome and are working with the US National Institutes of Health to test DNA extracted from his delicate remains. Prof Richard Trembath, Vice Principal for Health at Queen Mary’s, said: “Little was understood during Merrick’s life about his condition. But current genetic research means we can now ultimately treat those living with rare diseases.” Merrick died from what was thought to be a dislocated neck. He had to sleep sitting up because of the weight of his head—but had been trying to sleep lying down “to be like other people.” His story was the subject of the 1979 film The Elephant Man, with John Hurt as Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as surgeon Treves. The Royal London Hospital Museum opens Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4.30pm.

    Replica skeleton of Elephant Man Merrick on show at Royal London

    The skeleton created from digital 3D scans of his fragile remains is on display at the Royal London Hospital’s museum from 10am.

    Scientists are planning to extract and test DNA from Merrick’s bones which are held in the private pathology collection nearby at the London School of Medicine in Whitechapel.

    Merrick, who died in 1890 at the age of 27, was cared for until the end of his life at The London Hospital by surgeon Frederick Treves. His bones were later kept at the medical school in the hope that one day they might help research.

    The new replica is part of an exhibition about Merrick which includes his hat and mask, photographs and an intricate paper model of a church he made while living at the hospital.

    It reflects the remarkable life that Merrick led, despite his disabilities and lack of treatment available at the time.

    Experts now suspect Merrick’s disorder was Proteus syndrome, a rare medical problem that causes bones, skin and other tissue to grow excessively in parts of the body, causing severe disfigurement.

    American researchers have since identified a genetic cause of Proteus.

    Now researchers at the medical school, part of the University of London’s Queen Mary College, hope to confirm finally that Merrick’s condition was Proteus syndrome and are working with the US National Institutes of Health to test DNA extracted from his delicate remains.

    Prof Richard Trembath, Vice Principal for Health at Queen Mary’s, said: “Little was understood during Merrick’s life about his condition. But current genetic research means we can now ultimately treat those living with rare diseases.”

    Merrick died from what was thought to be a dislocated neck. He had to sleep sitting up because of the weight of his head—but had been trying to sleep lying down “to be like other people.”

    His story was the subject of the 1979 film The Elephant Man, with John Hurt as Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as surgeon Treves.

    The Royal London Hospital Museum opens Tuesday to Friday 10am to 4.30pm.

    Crossrail’s Archaeology exhibition back by popular demand

    Crossrail has announced the return of its hugely popular Bison to Bedlam archaeology exhibition this October following the success of a recent pop-up event. 

    The free exhibition celebrates the half-way point of our archaeology programme.  It will feature almost 100 finds including a skeleton from the infamous Bedlam psychiatric hospital, a silver Roman coin and 55 million year old amber. The October exhibition will also display a small section of mammoth jaw bone for the first time.

    A series of seminars by expert archaeologists working on the project will take place alongside the exhibition on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm to 7pm. People will be welcomed on a first come, first served basis.

    Exhibition attendees will also have the chance to win an exciting archaeology themed prize donated by Systra.

    Crossrail’s lead archaeologist Jay Carver will also host the project’s first online Twitter Q&A event (#BisontoBedlam) on Tuesday 9 October between 2pm and 9pm to answer questions on Crossrail’s archaeology programme.

    The Crossrail archaeology programme began in 2009 with archaeologists beginning their investigations at Tottenham Court Road, where they excavated the former Crosse & Blackwell factory site. Since then Crossrail has uncovered finds dating from pre-historic times to the industrial revolution including Roman artefacts and remnants of Britain’s industrial heritage. 

    Crossrail passes through the heart of London’s West End and along the north edge of the Roman and medieval city. The archaeology programme therefore expects to uncover further important and interesting remains.

    The exhibition will be held at the Crossrail Visitors Information Centre at Tottenham Court Road from 2 October to 27 October on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 7pm and Saturdays from 10am to 5pm. Crossrail’s Tottenham Court Road Visitor Information Centre is located at 16-18 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LN.

    Watch the Crossrail website or follow us on Twitter for further details and announcements.

    To find out more about Crossrail’s archaeology programme visit:

    http://www.crossrail.co.uk/archaeology

    Murderer James Legg’s gruesome tale revived for anatomy exhibition Story of murderer’s postmortem participation in crucifixion experiment resurrected for exhibition on medical ethics in 19th-century London The crime of James Legg, a Chelsea pensioner who murdered a fellow pensioner more than two centuries ago, might well have been forgotten long ago had he not, unknowingly, participated postmortem in a bizarre scientific experiment. Instead, his story, and a plaster cast of the 73-year-old’s corpse flayed to the muscle, will form the centrepiece of an exhibition on medical ethics and practices in bygone London. Legg’s immortality in art owes everything to the efforts in 1801 of sculptor Thomas Bank, and artists Benjamin West and Richard Crossway, to demonstrate most depictions of the crucifixion of Christ were anatomically incorrect. Aside from stringing up a live victim, the best possible solution would seem to be to acquire one freshly dead. At the time, as the study and teaching of anatomy became increasingly popular, the only legal source of corpses were those of executed prisoners. Demand, though, far exceeded supply, leading to brisk business in the gruesome trade of bodysnatching, where gangs of what were known as resurrection men stole corpses from the capital’s cemeteries to sell to anatomist surgeons. It was not only the surgeons who were interested in the dead bodies. Anatomy classes were also offered at the Royal Academy of Arts, and many artists forged relationships with surgeon-anatomists. So, it was to Joseph Constantine Carpue, a well-known surgeon, that Banks and the artists turned for help. An opportunity presented itself when Carpue was called to the Chelsea hospital after Legg had apparently dispatched one of his fellow pensioners with a gun. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and taken to the gallows. Immediately after the execution, his still-warm body was taken by Carpue and Banks and hung from a cross. After letting it settle into position, it was then flayed to remove all the skin before Banks made a cast of it, which the Royal Academy retains, occasionally lending it to exhibitions. Now the plaster cast is going on display at the Museum of London as part of the exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, which opens on 19 October. Jelena Beklavac, curator of Human Osteology at the Museum of London, said: “It is a privilege to have the James Legg cast on display. Looking at James is an absorbing and poignant experience and I am certain visitors will be struck by his presence in the exhibition. James underlines our continued fascination with all things anatomical.” Full article here.

    Murderer James Legg’s gruesome tale revived for anatomy exhibition

    Story of murderer’s postmortem participation in crucifixion experiment resurrected for exhibition on medical ethics in 19th-century London

    The crime of James Legg, a Chelsea pensioner who murdered a fellow pensioner more than two centuries ago, might well have been forgotten long ago had he not, unknowingly, participated postmortem in a bizarre scientific experiment.

    Instead, his story, and a plaster cast of the 73-year-old’s corpse flayed to the muscle, will form the centrepiece of an exhibition on medical ethics and practices in bygone London. Legg’s immortality in art owes everything to the efforts in 1801 of sculptor Thomas Bank, and artists Benjamin West and Richard Crossway, to demonstrate most depictions of the crucifixion of Christ were anatomically incorrect.

    Aside from stringing up a live victim, the best possible solution would seem to be to acquire one freshly dead.

    At the time, as the study and teaching of anatomy became increasingly popular, the only legal source of corpses were those of executed prisoners. Demand, though, far exceeded supply, leading to brisk business in the gruesome trade of bodysnatching, where gangs of what were known as resurrection men stole corpses from the capital’s cemeteries to sell to anatomist surgeons.

    It was not only the surgeons who were interested in the dead bodies. Anatomy classes were also offered at the Royal Academy of Arts, and many artists forged relationships with surgeon-anatomists.

    So, it was to Joseph Constantine Carpue, a well-known surgeon, that Banks and the artists turned for help.

    An opportunity presented itself when Carpue was called to the Chelsea hospital after Legg had apparently dispatched one of his fellow pensioners with a gun. He was sentenced to death by hanging, and taken to the gallows.

    Immediately after the execution, his still-warm body was taken by Carpue and Banks and hung from a cross. After letting it settle into position, it was then flayed to remove all the skin before Banks made a cast of it, which the Royal Academy retains, occasionally lending it to exhibitions.

    Now the plaster cast is going on display at the Museum of London as part of the exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, which opens on 19 October.

    Jelena Beklavac, curator of Human Osteology at the Museum of London, said: “It is a privilege to have the James Legg cast on display. Looking at James is an absorbing and poignant experience and I am certain visitors will be struck by his presence in the exhibition. James underlines our continued fascination with all things anatomical.”

    Full article here.

    British Museum uses its loaf as Pompeii exhibits come to town Remains of family and dog ‘frozen in time’ among items surviving Vesuvius eruption to be displayed in spring A loaf of bread which was put in the oven in AD79 and removed from it in the 1930s, and a charred baby’s cradle which still rocks almost 2,000 years after its owner died, are some of the objects coming to the British Museum this spring for its exhibition on one of the most famous disasters in history: the eruption of Vesuvius. As well as the objects which surrounded them in life, there will be casts made from the bodies of those who died in 79AD, when the monstrous eruption blew off the entire top of the mountain and engulfed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The six casts of those who died choking in the ash which fell like snow or were poisoned by noxious gases, include the most famous dog from the ancient world, frozen in time writhing against its collar and the rope which still tied it to a stake as it died. It was found just a few yards from an equally famous mosaic, which is also coming, originally guarding the threshold of a house in Pompeii, of a prancing red-collared black and white dog with the warning Cave Canem. Among thhe items coming to the exhibition are the remains of an entire family, two adults and two children, found cowering under a staircase in Pompeii. The casts were made in a technique invented in the 19th century to preserve the most moving testimony to the catastrophe by pouring plaster into the voids in the ash left as bodies decomposed, preserving the people as they fell – covering their heads, curled up like babies, or struggling to shelter a child. The two towns were different in life and death. Herculaneum was overwhelmed by a fiery pyroclastic flow hot enough to evaporate human flesh, so fast and furious that charred food remained on carbonised tables from meals that were never eaten. The town was buried 80 feet deep, and only a third of it has been excavated. Pompeii choked more slowly, and the tops of buildings were left sticking out of the ash field, so as early as Roman times people burrowed into the ruins for building materials and works of art. Pompeii was the larger and more racketty town, full of bars and brothels, Herculaneum wealthier and quieter. It was as if Brighton and Hove, had randomly remained as evidence of modern British culture, said British Museum director Neil MacGregor. Despite the display of bodies and the poignant objects the citizens snatched up as they tried to flee a collapsing cloud of ash and gas towering 19 miles into the sky above their heads, curator Paul Roberts, head of Roman collections at the museum, said the emphasis would be on everyday life in the towns, not death. Real faces of the living inhabitants will include an imposing bronze bust of a banker and money lender, who was also a freed slave as up to half the population may have been. A vivid wall painting portrays a baker, Terentius Neo, and his wife: his wife is nameless but, as MacGregor remarked, she looks much the brighter of the two, standing slightly in front of him and holding a writing tablet – striking evidence of her literacy and status. The exhibition comes after the international outcryfollowing building collapses at Pompeii two years ago, which led to some calling for the sites and collections to be removed from Italian state control. MacGregor and Roberts praised the relationship with the Italian authorities in charge of the museum in Naples and the two sites as a true collaboration: the Italians are charging no loan fees, and have allowed unprecedented access to treasures, including sending six pieces of Herculaneum furniture, when no more than two have ever left the country together. Roberts praised the “outstanding work” being done at the sites. The body casts, which include one woman who was cast in resin instead of plaster so that her bones are visible, will be shown in a separate section at the end. “We recognise that for some people the idea of death will be the most challenging element of the exhibition, but we would prefer that people not avoid the bodies,” Roberts said. He said he found some previous exhibitions of the casts distasteful, when they were shown in lurid lighting or with melodramatic music. “These are real people, and we will treat them with the greatest respect. If these people had not died, we would not have this exhibition.” • Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, British Museum, 28 March - 29 September 2013.

    British Museum uses its loaf as Pompeii exhibits come to town

    Remains of family and dog ‘frozen in time’ among items surviving Vesuvius eruption to be displayed in spring

    A loaf of bread which was put in the oven in AD79 and removed from it in the 1930s, and a charred baby’s cradle which still rocks almost 2,000 years after its owner died, are some of the objects coming to the British Museum this spring for its exhibition on one of the most famous disasters in history: the eruption of Vesuvius.

    As well as the objects which surrounded them in life, there will be casts made from the bodies of those who died in 79AD, when the monstrous eruption blew off the entire top of the mountain and engulfed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

    The six casts of those who died choking in the ash which fell like snow or were poisoned by noxious gases, include the most famous dog from the ancient world, frozen in time writhing against its collar and the rope which still tied it to a stake as it died. It was found just a few yards from an equally famous mosaic, which is also coming, originally guarding the threshold of a house in Pompeii, of a prancing red-collared black and white dog with the warning Cave Canem.

    Among thhe items coming to the exhibition are the remains of an entire family, two adults and two children, found cowering under a staircase in Pompeii. The casts were made in a technique invented in the 19th century to preserve the most moving testimony to the catastrophe by pouring plaster into the voids in the ash left as bodies decomposed, preserving the people as they fell – covering their heads, curled up like babies, or struggling to shelter a child.

    The two towns were different in life and death. Herculaneum was overwhelmed by a fiery pyroclastic flow hot enough to evaporate human flesh, so fast and furious that charred food remained on carbonised tables from meals that were never eaten. The town was buried 80 feet deep, and only a third of it has been excavated. Pompeii choked more slowly, and the tops of buildings were left sticking out of the ash field, so as early as Roman times people burrowed into the ruins for building materials and works of art.

    Pompeii was the larger and more racketty town, full of bars and brothels, Herculaneum wealthier and quieter. It was as if Brighton and Hove, had randomly remained as evidence of modern British culture, said British Museum director Neil MacGregor.

    Despite the display of bodies and the poignant objects the citizens snatched up as they tried to flee a collapsing cloud of ash and gas towering 19 miles into the sky above their heads, curator Paul Roberts, head of Roman collections at the museum, said the emphasis would be on everyday life in the towns, not death.

    Real faces of the living inhabitants will include an imposing bronze bust of a banker and money lender, who was also a freed slave as up to half the population may have been. A vivid wall painting portrays a baker, Terentius Neo, and his wife: his wife is nameless but, as MacGregor remarked, she looks much the brighter of the two, standing slightly in front of him and holding a writing tablet – striking evidence of her literacy and status.

    The exhibition comes after the international outcryfollowing building collapses at Pompeii two years ago, which led to some calling for the sites and collections to be removed from Italian state control.

    MacGregor and Roberts praised the relationship with the Italian authorities in charge of the museum in Naples and the two sites as a true collaboration: the Italians are charging no loan fees, and have allowed unprecedented access to treasures, including sending six pieces of Herculaneum furniture, when no more than two have ever left the country together. Roberts praised the “outstanding work” being done at the sites.

    The body casts, which include one woman who was cast in resin instead of plaster so that her bones are visible, will be shown in a separate section at the end. “We recognise that for some people the idea of death will be the most challenging element of the exhibition, but we would prefer that people not avoid the bodies,” Roberts said.

    He said he found some previous exhibitions of the casts distasteful, when they were shown in lurid lighting or with melodramatic music.

    “These are real people, and we will treat them with the greatest respect. If these people had not died, we would not have this exhibition.”

    • Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, British Museum, 28 March - 29 September 2013.

    Horrible histories: Why has a Lancashire school's set of grisly religious relics been hidden for years?

    It is the biggest collection of relics in Britain, but few will have heard of it. Now the curator of the historic Catholic school that houses the archives of eyes, skin, skulls and even a part of the supposed Crown of Thorns hopes the funds can be raised to put it on full public display for the first time. Items from Stonyhurst College’s collection are increasingly loaned for exhibitions, with one of the grisly jewels in the crown currently on display at the British Museum’s “Shakespeare: Staging the World” exhibition.

    The show, which opened this month, brings together a series of objects from Tudor England to help conjure up the turbulent times for a 21st-century audience. Undoubtedly one of the star attractions will be the eyeball held by Stonyhurst from a Catholic martyr who was executed in 1606.

    The eye’s owner, Edward Oldcorne, was unlucky to have been caught. He had long survived as a Catholic priest at a time when it was treason, yet was picked up when other priests, fleeing arrest in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, sought refuge in his house. He was publicly hanged, drawn and quartered. The eye was fished out of the pot used to boil his body, the process to prepare it for public display, and put in a silver reliquary to preserve it.

    The religious relic speaks to the persecution of the Catholics in Britain in the 17th century and is just one of the items held in an extraordinary collection at the independent Jesuit school. Jan Graffius, the curator of the school’s collections, says: “Some things have a powerful ability to speak. We all know how sensitive the eye is and how precious our eyesight is. To see a human eyeball in that state, you can’t fail but be moved. I’ve never shown it to someone and not got a reaction, whether shocked, appalled or horrified.”

    Full story here.

    An exhibition which puts preserved human bodies on public display will open in a city shopping centre tomorrow. Bodies Revealed displays the preserved anatomical specimens of people who donated their bodies to medical science. The exhibition, staged by Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions, has been set up in a former music store in Liverpool city centre and opens its doors to the public tomorrow. The collection of exhibits will allow visitors the chance to explore and discover the wonders of the human body in a completely new way. Bodies Revealed is all about education. It is a demonstration of the complexity, intricacy and sophistication of our organs and how they work. – DR ROY GLOVER, CHIEF MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR BODIES REVEALED Visitors will see the inner workings of the body - including bones, muscle tissue and organs - thanks to a technique called polymer preservation, in which the human tissue is preserved in liquid silicone rubber. Young visitors to the exhibition are expected to be accompanied by an adult and parents are advised to exercise their judgment when deciding whether children should be taken to see it.

    An exhibition which puts preserved human bodies on public display will open in a city shopping centre tomorrow.

    Bodies Revealed displays the preserved anatomical specimens of people who donated their bodies to medical science.

    The exhibition, staged by Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions, has been set up in a former music store in Liverpool city centre and opens its doors to the public tomorrow.

    The collection of exhibits will allow visitors the chance to explore and discover the wonders of the human body in a completely new way.

    Bodies Revealed is all about education.

    It is a demonstration of the complexity, intricacy and sophistication of our organs and how they work.

    – DR ROY GLOVER, CHIEF MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR BODIES REVEALED

    Visitors will see the inner workings of the body - including bones, muscle tissue and organs - thanks to a technique called polymer preservation, in which the human tissue is preserved in liquid silicone rubber.

    Young visitors to the exhibition are expected to be accompanied by an adult and parents are advised to exercise their judgment when deciding whether children should be taken to see it.

    'Death has not required us to keep a day free'

    For the Love of God, Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull, has already become one of the most talked about works of art in recent years, but what was the inspiration behind it? With a major retrospective of his work currently on show at Tate Modern, Hirst reveals its Mexican roots…