So Colby has his mannequins and mummies and the Franklin Institute has Body Works again so what better time to introduce my favorite desktop images - the Anatomical Venus in her many incarnations.
"Anatomical Venuses are life-sized wax anatomical models of idealized women, extremely realistic in appearance and often adorned with real hair and ornamental jewelry. These figures consist of removable parts that can be "dissected" to demonstrate anatomy-- a breast plate is lifted to reveal the inner workings of the mysterious female body, often with a fetus to be found nestling in the womb..." (taken from Morbid Anatomy check it out along with Curious Expeditions. Most of these images were taken from those blogs.)
My reaction to these figures is similar to my reaction to many of Eco's examples. Any initial discomfort is immediately overwhelmed by a sense of awe leaving me with no difficulty describing them as beautiful.
-theresa
Wow... hauntingly beautiful. Only made slightly more uncomfortable by the fact that I am viewing them inside the library. With On Ugliness open. Still, great find.
ReplyDelete-Colby