Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows), Italian School, Probably 16th Century

Painting of the Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows), Italian School, Probably 16th Century. Via Bukowski's Auction House.

From Wikipedia:

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are a popular Roman Catholic devotion. In common religious Catholic imagery, the Blessed Virgin Mary is portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with seven daggers piercing her heart, often bleeding. Devotional prayers that consist of meditation began to elaborate on her Seven Sorrows based on the prophecy of Simeon... [Those seven sorrows are]:

The Prophecy of Saint Simeon. (Luke 2:34–35)
The Escape and Flight into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13)
The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem. (Luke 2:43–45)
The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Via Dolorosa.
The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary. (John 19:25)
The Piercing of the Side of Jesus, and His Descent from the Cross. (Matthew 27:57–59)
The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea. (John 19:40–42)

Death's Heads and Tomb Markers of Amsterdam and Leiden

While in the Netherlands last week for the Amsterdam Anatomy Weekend at the Museum Vrolik, I had the time to take in a three wonderful churches: de Nieuwe Kerk ("new church") and de Oude Kerk ("old church") in Amsterdam and, in Leiden, Pieterskerk (or "Pilgrim Fathers' Church"), thanks very much to Bart Grob and his magnificent Museum Boerhaave bicycle.

All of the churches were, on their own, wonderfully captivating spaces, lofty and sober and aglow with that very special Dutch light; they were also, to my delight, filled with dozens of fascinating tomb markers, many of them engraved with fanciful death's heads and other enigmatic images. You can see a few of my favorite examples above, and can view a more complete photoset by clicking here.

"Sending your Prayers to Me Will Cure the Ailment of the Soul" or The Bayer Aspirin Prayer Card: Guest post by Laetitia Barbier

One of the more intriguing new additions to the Morbid Anatomy collection is this glow-in-the-dark Bayer Aspirin Prayer card. Its donor, Enric H. March of the wonderful Barcelona history blog Bereshit explained to me that it dates from the 1940s and was produced during the Spanish Civil Postwar, while the Nazis were reshaping the map of Europe.

How to explain this heady mix of Christian imagery and medicine? In March's words: "aspirin and sacred wafer are similar in form and content, and complement each other: where there is no faith, aspirin; where there is aspirin, faith. This image is made with fluorescent paint, and lights the darkness. If you look intently image for thirty seconds and then directs you to view a white surface, it appears God. True. I do not need faith. As with aspirin."

Following is a guest post by Morbid Anatomy Library head Librarian Laetitia Barbier based into her research into this wonderful new addition to our collection:

After the Congress of Curious People in Barcelona, Joanna came back with a suitcase full of newly acquired books and artifacts for the Library. Within all these treasures, one piece of ephemera was particularly fascinating and enigmatic to me: a Bayer-produced religious card which appeared in Spain around the 1940s, and which was kindly donated by Enric H. March.

If “The Sacred Heart of Jesus” is fairly common motif  in catholic devotional icons, this one revealed itself to one of a kind. Beneath its minimal, black and white design, this compassionate-looking Christ had indeed more than one story to tell.

First curious fact: the right hand-corner is embossed with a cross-like logo which has nothing religious, as its the emblem of BAYER, the german pharmaceutical firm which synthesized and patterned Aspirin in the 19th Century. A “major remedy,” and a universal one, as indicated the small text in spanish that Jesus points-up to our attention with his benedictory hand gesture. I was pretty confused myself: was this a pious image or a commercial ad? The idea that a Jesus image could become an advocate of Aspirin’s effervescence and miraculous virtues was odd and pretty incongruous. However, it appeared clear that BAYER designed this object to be both a religious icon and a way to publicize their medicine.

In the manner of catholic prayer cards, The BAYER Sacred Heart was probably mass produced as a devotional object that people could carry around in books or wallet and use for private veneration. Nowadays, pharmaceutical firms give away pens, mugs, and other every-day objects to potential clients, so why not an icon when you want to seduce a Roman Catholic country? Moreover, the cardboard icon is coated with glow-in-the-dark-ink, leaving Jesus’s heart to glare metaphorically once the lights go out, after the night-time prayer. This card had to become a major artifact in people’s daily religious routine.

But beyond its novelty aspect, its most fascinating side dwell the underlying message which form the core of this twisted commercial strategy. If this Christ could talk, he will probably whispers to us this exact slogan: "Sending your prayers to me will cure the ailment of the soul. But for the prosaic torments of the human body, there is Bayer Aspirin.”

This is the third guest post Laetitia has written based on her favorite curiosities in the Morbid Anatomy Library; to see all posts by Laetitia, click here. Click on images to see larger, more detailed versions.

Anatomical Votives and Milagros: A Guest Post by Anatomical Artist Emily Evans

Following is a guest post about anatomical votives by London-based anatomical artist Emily Evans, based on her dissertation on the same subject. You can her excellent artwork--which takes the anatomical body and death as a point of departure--in our gift shop by clicking here. She will also be the Morbid Anatomy Museum artist in residence for July 2014, overseeing a month devoted to art and anatomy, so stay tuned for more on that!

A votive is an offering made usually as an act of worship to a deity or a saint in fulfillment of a vow or when expressing a vow or a wish. The custom of manufacture and use of anatomical votives was prolific in ancient Greece and Rome from 400BC to 400AD. These offerings were made to deities of health and medicine, either in the hope for a cure or in thanks for one. These often life size fragments of the human body were usually modeled in terracotta although materials including metals and stone were used for those that could afford them. They were placed in temples dedicated to the healing gods of the time, most notably, Asklepios.

Most parts of the body were represented by these anatomical votives, each part adopting various theories for their use for healing. Votives have been found depicting practically every part of the body, both internally and externally, although eyes, head, hands, breasts, male genitals and feet were most common.

Despite the rise of Hippocratic medicine, only the wealthy could afford a Greek doctor. Although adhering to entirely differing principles, the two beliefs of healing divinities and Hippocratic medicine co existed within society.

Gradually the saints of the Christian church adopted the powers of the Greek and Roman deities.

In modern day, anatomical votives are small metal religious charms that are pinned or hung at altars and shrines in thankgiving for a miracle received. Modern Catholic and Orthodox European votives are often referred to as ex votos, short for ex voto suscepto meaning “from the vow made” in Latin. In colonial Latin America, they are referred to as Milagros meaning ‘miracles’ in Spanish.

 

They are commonly used in two types of ways; a person may ask a favor from a saint (known as a ‘manda’ in Mexico) and in order to repay the saint after the favor has been granted, they will make a pilgrimage to the shrine of that saint and leave the Milagro there. Alternatively, people might carry a Milagros with them for good luck, especially if it has been blessed by a spiritual healer.

They can range in size from less than ½ inch to several inches and vary in style and material depending on the cultures that produce them. Most are from Peru, Germany, Mexico and Italy ranging in metals from silver, pewter, copper, nickel and other metals.

The meanings of the votives are always up to interpretation. For example a heart could represent a heart condition or affairs of the heart. Equally a leg could mean arthritis or traveling, or a penis could mean fertility.

Internal body parts are usually offered when asking for help with a particular ailment.

Eye Milagros are commonly associated with the Mexican saint Santa Lucia whom people make mandas to her about eye conditions. Eyes can also be attached to the image of the deceased to represent the spirit of that person watching over us.

Images:

1. Breast votive, courtesy of the private collection of Elizabeth Anderson
2. Terracotta votives, Wellcome images
3. Italian silver stomach votive, Tesoros Trading Company
4. Brass vertebrae votive, courtesy of the private collection of Elizabeth Anderson
5. Brass Abdomen votive, courtesy of the private collection of Elizabeth Anderson
6. Variety of anatomical votives, courtesy of the private collection of Elizabeth Anderson
7. Nickel copper anatomical torso votive is also Tesoros Trading Company
8. Eye votive, courtesy of the private collection of Elizabeth Anderson

Offertory Box (Collecting Box) for Gravediggers, Painted Wood, 18th Century, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery

Offertory Box (Collecting Box) for Gravediggers, Painted Wood, 18th Century; found on the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery website; text explains:

This is a rare surviving example of a collecting box for gravediggers. It probably dates from the 18th century and is made from an unidentified hardwood, which has been painted, with a skull and crossbones. The church and the people working for the parish relied heavily on donations of money to boost their meagre earnings. 

More information--and additional views--can be found here.

Detail of Calvary, Ebony and Ivory, Late 17th–Early 18th Century, From the Metropolitan Museum of Art

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art website:

Calvary, late 17th–early 18th century (detail)
German or Netherlandish(?)
Ivory, ebony; (a) H. (with cross)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Calvary was the hill outside Jerusalem where Christ was crucified. Here, the traditional group of the Virgin, the Magdalene, and Saint John includes the Good and Bad Thieves. The suffering expressed in the contorted poses would have aided in the viewer's efforts at private devotion. In an unusual iconographic touch, the Virgin kneels at the foot of the cross, a place usually reserved for the Magdalene, who is shown in a posture more typical of the Mourning Virgin. The bearded Saint John is also uncommon, as is the oriental (Turkish?) hairstyle of the thief at the left. The distinctive carving style produced delicate but highly expressive features on comparatively small heads set against broad, flat classical draperies and heavy bodies with unusually stout wrists and ankles.

You can learn more--and see the piece in its entirety--by clicking here.

Merry Christmas with Jean Paul Gaultier Virgins (Madonna) Series, The Brooklyn Museum

I am not usually a big fan of haute couture, but Jean Paul Gaultier's Virgins (or Madonnas) collection, now on view at The Brooklyn Museum, is one of the best things I have ever seen. These lavishly elegant and painstakingly crafted gowns are embellished with sacred and bleeding hearts, or open in the suggestion of portable altars, or are encrusted with anatomical silver ex voto. Each is topped by a halo-inspired tiara/headdresses made from such materials as feathers, shells, and/or jewels; many of the models sport stylized Madonna Dolorosa-inspried tears. The installation is also a delightful spectacle in and of itself, with the blank white heads of the mannequins uncannily brought to life by video projections of the faces of the models, who blink and shift their aloof gazes towards and away from you, fantasies of the Virgin Mary brought to life.

If you are based in the New York area, I cannot more highly recommend making a pilgrimage to see these incredibly artful pieces, on view at The Brooklyn Museum in the exhibition "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk" through February 23, 2014. You can find out more by clicking here.

Thanks so much to my friend Shannon Taggart for making sure I saw this incredible exhibition. 

Images sourced from Art at Heart, Visual Therapy, Relics on Adams Street, and Pretty Cripple.

"Krampusfest": Guest Post for Morbid Anatomy by Al Ridenour of Art of Bleeding

Krampus Group in Munich. Photo: Al Ridenour.

Krampus Los Angeles Troupe. Photo: Phil Glau.

Postcard from Monte Beauchamp’s collection.

Following is a guest post about about friend of Morbid Anatomy Al Ridenour's attempts to revive the art of "Krampusfest" in his hometown of Sunny Los Angeles. Al is part of a group of medical art-themed provocateurs called Art of Bleeding; more on them here. Maybe we can persuade Al to stage Krampus fest here in NYC next year?

For more on Krampus and his history, click here; to find out about the Morbid Anatomy Krampus costume party (!) on December 14th, click here. To order Krampus holiday cards of your very own, click here.

As the Morbid Anatomy’s annual Krampus celebration approaches, I’ve been invited to share a bit about how we here in the relentlessly sunny city of Los Angeles are now also falling under the shadow of an ancient Alpine devil.

About a year ago, several friends and I resolved to create Krampus suits and stage California’s first Krampuslauf, (“Krampus run” though “shamble” might be more accurate). This  plan expanded into a frighteningly ambitious series of activities dubbed “Krampusfest.”

While perhaps the most overweening, we are not the first American Krampus troupe.  That credit goes to Philadelphia Krampuslauf, now in its third year. Groups in Portland, OR, Detroit, Athens, GA, Bloomington, IN, and New Orleans are also now part of this burgeoning movement.

Much of this began in 2004 when collector Monte Beauchamp began baiting us with his lovely series of books documenting the popular Krampus cards that circulated in earlier centuries. What pushed me over the edge, however, was the discovery of European videos that presented the Krampus not as a antiquated ephemera, but a tradition still very much alive and ready to chase you down the street. Pouring over online footage, I concluded that the scenes shot in the Gasteiner Valley near Salzburg seemed the most unrestrained and boisterous, so that is where I convinced my wife we needed to go.

Returning to my hotel giddy from my first night of live Krampus tussling, and with snow still wet in my hair, I opened the fateful email message announcing the creation of an LA Krampuslauf.  It came from Al Guerrero, a fellow organizer and co-conspirator of the Los Angeles lodge of The Cacophony Society, a national group dedicated to eccentric mischief which flustered journalists of the 1990s came to define as “culture jamming” and “flash mobs.”  We’d never sported horns or wielded switches, but had honed some guerilla theater fly-by-the-seat-of your pants spectacle-making skills.  Krampus didn’t seem like a big jump.

Each of our suits did end up consuming sizable investments of time and money.  Many of the costumes were sewn weft-by-weft, and the masks sculpted from scratch and topped by real animal horns. Right now there are about 15 of us, and we’re looking forward to meeting more recruits at our public Krampus run.

The troupe will also storm in on some less traditional indoor events, including our Krampus Ball and Krampus Rumpus, themed shows juxtaposing performances of traditional Schuhplattler dances and alpenhorn solos by a local Bavarian cultural group with acts like Santa Claus Nomi (the band Timur and The Dime Museum working with former Nomi composer Kristian Hoffman) as well as horned and pelt-wearing parody bands including The Kramps, Krampwerk, and Krammpstein.

And there is a group exhibition at Santa Monica’s Copro Gallery displaying Krampus-inspired artwork by a horde of artists including Chet Zar, Bob Dob, Luke Cheu, Travis Louie, and even Tim Burton. For this event, Krampus LA will contribute a performance and outdoor “Krampus Habitat” installation omplete with cages, screaming children and hellish photo-ops a-plenty.

One of our purposes in creating this crazy patchwork of events was to offer an unfamiliar public different ways to dip their toes into a new tradition. Not everyone can dedicate the resources to creating traditional costumes, but we’re hoping that some uncostumed attendees at this year’s events will be inspired to return to us next fall for workshops geared toward making traditional costumes.

Maintaining the core traditions under the camouflage of Californian kookery is important to us. Toward that end, we’re also reaching out to European groups, and have befriended a couple participants from different communities around Salzburg. Having previously planned trips to California, we met with each of them for informal Q and As. They were both surprised and initially perhaps a bit baffled at our enthusiasm and efforts toward creating costumes imitating their homegrown traditions. Usually things run differently.  For many Europeans the obliteration of local holiday customs by the ever-expanding presences of the American Santa Claus, (“Weihnachtsmann,” i.e., “Christmas Man” in German) is a hot-button issue, so amid all our chaotic street devilry, we hope our group and other American Krampus enthusiasts might be tipping the scales a bit toward a happier equilibrium.

"Physica Sacra," Johannes Jacob Scheuchzer, 1731: Guest Post for The New York Academy of Medicine "Books, Health and History" Blog

In the run-up to the New York Academy of Medicine's upcoming Wonder Cabinet and Medical History Festival (co-curated by Morbid Anatomy and Lawrence Weschler; more here) I have been invited to write a series of guest posts for NYAM's "Books, Health and History" blog about the treasures and curiosities I have found in the Academy's vast historical collection.

I just finished the first post in that series, dedicated to one of my all-time favorite books: Johannes Jacob Scheuchzer's enigmatic and fascinating Physica Sacra, a large-scale, 4-volume high baroque extravaganza of art, science, mysticism, and all worldly knowledge. You can see one of my favorite, extremely Ruysch-esque images from that book above; you can find out more about this image, see many others, and learn more about this curious book on NYAM's Books, Health and History" blog by clicking here.

On a related aside: I am currently working on a new project with some lovely folks who have just purchased for our nascent collection a full, 4 volume, 1st edition Physica Sacra with a provenance tracing back to 18th century prime minister of Denmark Ove Høegh-Guldberg (!!!). Stay tuned for more very soon on that book and project!

Memorial Skulls of The University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Oxford, England

You can find out more about Oxford's University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin church by clicking here. All photos are my own.

Reasons to Love Paris #638: Candlelit Statue of the Virgin Mary, Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis

You can find out more about the church by clicking here; click on image for larger, more detailed version.

"Vision of Ezekiel," Giovanni Batista Britano Ghisi or Mantuano, 1554

Title: 'Dabo super Vos Ner Vos Et Succrescere Facia sup Vos Carne'
Maker: Giovanni Batista Britano Ghisi or Mantuano
Year: 1554, published by Gio Iacomo de Rossi in Roma alla Pace in ca.1660
Description: Rare antique print  (copper engraving) of the Vision of Ezekiel by Giovanni Batista Britano Ghisi also called Mantuano (1520-1582), printed by Gio Iacomo de Rossi in Roma alla Pace.
The text on the ribbon is ’Dabo super Vos Ner Vos Et Succrescere Facia sup Vos Carne’ (I will lay sinews and flesh upon you) The tablet (lower left) shows the inscription ‘Io: Baptista Britano Mantuan In’. The water mark of the paper shows a ‘fleur de lis’ in a circle 
Subject: Antique religious prints / Vision of Ezekiel

For sale at ISCRA antiquarians in The Netherlands; more here. Click on top image to see larger, finer version.

New Morbid Anatomy Presents Events in Brooklyn: The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead with Chiara Ambrosio; Quail and Squirrel Taxidermy with Rogue Taxidermist Katie Innamorato

I am delighted to announce three recently added Morbid Anatomy events taking place in May and June at Brooklyn's Observatory. First up: next Friday, May 17, London-based artist Chiara Ambrosio will present a heavily illustrated lecture on my current obsession: the enigmatic and fascinating Neapolitan "cult of the dead" or "cult of the skulls" (see above images; more here). Following are two brand new taxidermy classes taught by rogue taxidermist Katie Innamorato, one focusing on the quail (May 18th) and the other on the squirrel prepared according to "the ancient wrapped body technique." (June 23rd).

If this does not interest, we also have many more classes in taxidermy, Victorian mourning hair art, anthropomorphic insect shadow boxes, and Dance of Death linocuts as well as an illustrated lecture with professor Eric G Wilson about the history and science of "morbid curiosity" (June 6), and a special London-based 2-month series of events, workshops, special backstage tours, screenings and spectacles surveying the interstices of art and medicine, death and culture (June 2 - July 25).

Full details for all follow. Hope to see you at one or more of these terrific events!

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Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop with Former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton
With Daisy Tainton, Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History
Date: Saturday, May 11th
Time: 1 – 4 PM
Admission: $75
***Tickets MUST be pre-ordered by clicking here
You can also pre-pay in person at the Observatory during open hours.
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

Today, join former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton for Observatory’s popular Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop. In this class, students will work with Rhinoceros beetles: nature’s tiny giants. Each student will learn to make–and leave with their own!–shadowbox dioramas featuring carefully positioned beetles doing nearly anything you can imagine. Beetles and shadowboxes are provided, and an assortment of miniature furniture, foods, and other props will be available to decorate your habitat. Students need bring nothing, though are encouraged to bring along dollhouse props if they have a particular vision for their final piece; 1:12 scale work best.

BEETLES WILL BE PROVIDED. Each student receives one beetle approximately 2-3 inches tall when posed vertically.

Daisy Tainton was formerly Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History, and has been working with insects professionally for several years. Eventually her fascination with insects and  love of Japanese miniature food items naturally came together, resulting in cute and ridiculous museum-inspired yet utterly unrealistic dioramas. Beetles at the dentist? Beetles eating pie and knitting sweaters? Even beetles on the toilet? Why not?

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Naturalistic Squirrel Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman***** This is a 2 part class
Dates: Sunday, May 12 AND Sunday, May 19
Time: 12-3 PM
Admission: $250
Advance Tickets Required; Click here to purchase
Email divya.does.taxidermy at gmail dot com with questions or to be put on wait list
Class limit: 5
This class is part of the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

In this intimate, hands-on class (limited to only five students), we will study the nutty ways of the squirrel! Students will create a fully-finished classic squirrel mount in a natural sitting position. Students will learn everything involved in producing a finished mount - from initial preparation, hygiene and sanitary measures, to proper technique and dry preservation. The class will teach how to use and modify a pre-made form to suit the nuances of each unique animal. The use of anatomical study, reference photos, and detailed observation will also be reviewed as important tools in recreating the natural poses and expressions that magically reanimate a specimen. A selection of natural props will be provided, however, students are welcome to bring their own bases and accessories if something specific is desired. All other supplies will be provided for use in class.
This class is now split in two sessions. Each student will leave class with a fully-finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future.

Also, some technical notes:

• We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.
• Everyone will be provided with gloves.
• All animals are disease free.
• Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone
• All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.
• Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class.

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The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead: An Illustrated Lecture with Chiara Ambrosio
 Date: Friday, May 17
Time: 8:00 PM
Admission: $8
Presented by Morbid Anatomy

Naples is a unique city in which the sacred and the profane, Catholicism and paganism, beauty and decay blend and contrast in intriguing ways. No practice illustrates this tangle of ideas better than what is known as "The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead" in which devout Catholics--generally poor women--adopt anonymous skulls found in charnel houses and clean, care for, and sometimes house them, offering up prayers and offerings to shorten that soul's time in purgatory before reaching paradise, where, it is hoped, it will assist its earthbound caretaker with special favors. The macabre artifacts of this cult can be seen in the Cimitero delle Fontanelle (see above) and the crypt of the church of Saint Mary of Purgatory.In tonight's illustrated lecture, Italian artist and filmmaker Chiara Ambrosio will elucidate this curious and fascinating "Neapolitan Cult of the Dead" and situate it within a the rich death culture and storied history of Naples.

Chiara Ambrosio is a visual artist working with video and animation. Her work has included collaborations with performance artists, composers, musicians and writers, and has been shown in a number of venues including national and international film festivals, galleries and site specific events. She also runs The Light & Shadow Salon is a place for artists, writers and audience to meet and share ideas about the past, present and future of the moving image in all its forms.
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Quail - Bird Taxidermy with Rogue Taxidermist Katie Innamorato
Date: Saturday, May 18th
Time: 12 - 6.30
Admission: $250
***Maximum class size: 8 Students; Must RSVP to katie.innamorato [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

This class will introduce students to basic small bird taxidermy processes. As with other classes, this is only open to 6-8 students to allow for a more intimate one on one environment. Each student will be provided with their own quail which they will skin, flesh, and prep for mounting. Students will learn how to mount a bird using its skull and learn how to preserve the skin and pose it. Legalities of working with birds and bird parts will also be discussed. A copy of the MBTA will be brought to class and passed around to students.

Rogue taxidermist Katie Innamorato has a BFA in sculpture from SUNY New Paltz, has been featured on the hit TV show "Oddities," and has had her work featured at La Luz de Jesus gallery in Los Angeles, California. She is self and professionally taught, and has won multiple first place ribbons and awards at the Garden State Taxidermy Association Competition. Her work is focussed on displaying the cyclical connection between life and death and growth and decomposition. Katie is a member of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, and with all M.A.R.T. members she adheres to strict ethical guidelines when acquiring specimens and uses roadkill, scrap, and donated skins to create mounts.

Her website and blogs-
www.afterlifeanatomy.com
www.afterlifeanatomy.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/afterlifeanatomy
www.etsy.com/shop/afterlifeanatomy

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Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
Date: Saturday, May 18
Time: 1-5 PM
Admission: $110
***Please note: This class will be held offsite at Acme Studio : 63 N. 3rd Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Advance Tickets Required; Click here to purchase
Email divya.does.taxidermy at gmail dot com with questions or to be put on wait list
Class limit: 10
This class is part of the Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

Anthropomorphic taxidermy--in which taxidermied animals are posed into human attitudes and poses--was an artform made famous by Victorian taxidermist and museologist Walter Potter. In this class, students will learn to create--from start to finish--anthropomorphic mice inspired by the charming and imaginative work of Mr. Potter and his ilk. With the creative use of props and some artful styling, you will find that your mouse can take nearly whatever form you desire, from a bespectacled, whiskey swilling, top hat tipping mouse to a rodent mermaid queen of the burlesque world.

In this class, Divya Anantharaman--who learned her craft under the tutelage of famed Observatory instructor Sue Jeiven--will teach students everything involved in the production of a fully finished mount, including initial preparation, hygiene and sanitary measures, fleshing, tail stripping, and dry preservation. Once properly preserved, the mice will be posed and outfitted as the student desires. Although a broad selection of props and accessories will be provided by the instructor, students are also strongly encouraged to bring their own accessories and bases; all other materials will supplied. Each student will leave class with a fully finished piece, and the knowledge to create their own pieces in the future.

Also, some technical notes:

• We use NO harsh or dangerous chemicals.
• Everyone will be provided with gloves.
• All animals are disease free.
• Although there will not be a lot of blood or gore, a strong constitution is necessary; taxidermy is not for everyone
• All animals were already dead, nothing was killed for this class.
• Please do not bring any dead animals with you to the class.

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Dance of Death by Hans Holbein: A Linocut Workshop with Classically Trained Artist Lado Pochkua 
Dates: Tuesdays May 20, May 27 and June 4
Time: 7 - 10 PM
Admission: $60
***MUST RSVP to morbidanatomylibrary [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

The "dance of death" or "danse macabre" was a "medieval allegorical concept of the all-conquering and equalizing power of death, expressed in the drama, poetry, music, and visual arts of western Europe, mainly in the late Middle Ages. It is a literary or pictorial representation of a procession or dance of both living and dead figures, the living arranged in order of their rank, from pope and emperor to child, clerk, and hermit, and the dead leading them to the grave." (Encyclopedia Britannica). One of the best known expressions of this genre are a series of forty-two wood cuts by Hans Holbien published in 1538 under the title "Dance of Death."

In this class, students will learn the techniques of woodcuts and linocuts by creating a copy of one of Hans Holbein’s prints from the Dance of Death series. The class will follow the entire process from beginning to end: drafting a copy of the image, either a fragment or whole; transfer of the image to a linoleum block; cutting the image; printing the image on paper. Students will leave class with their own finished Dance of Death linocut and the skills to produce their own pieces in the future.

• Lesson 1: creating a copy of either a fragment or full image from the series on paper. The copy can either be freehand and stylized, or students can use a grid to copy more exactly.
• Lesson 2: transfer the drawing to linoleum.
• Lesson 3: correction of image, and beginning to cut the image.
• Lesson 4: finalizing the cut image.
• Lesson 5: Printing the image. Students will be able to use several colors and backgrounds to create the final image.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

• A block of linoleum: Blick Battleship Gray Linoleum, mounted or unmounted (details here)

OR

• Speedball Speedy-carve blocks, pink only (details here) Size: 9x12 or 8x10.

AND

• Linocutter set: Blick Lino Cutter Set (details here)Water soluble printing inks
• Printing paper
• Tracing paper
• Pencils
• Black markers (fine point)

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Lado Pochkhua was born in Sukhumi, Georgia in 1970. He received his MFA in Painting and Printmaking from Tbilisi State Art Academy in Georgia in 2001. He currently divides his time between New York and Tbilisi, Georgia.

Image: Image: “Melior est mors quam vita” to the aged woman who crawls gravewards with her bone rosary while Death makes music in the van." From Hans Holbein's "Dance of Death."
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Class: The Victorian Art of Hair Jewelry with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann 

Date: Sunday, June 2

Time: 12-4 PM

Admission: $75

***Must pre-order tickets here: http://victorianmourningjewelry.bpt.me

This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

Hair jewelry was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal lockets or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class will explore a modern take on the genre.

The technique of "palette working" or arranging hair in artful swoops and curls will be explored and a variety of ribbons, beads, wire and imagery of mourning iconography will be supplied for potential inclusion. A living or deceased person or pet may be commemorated in this manner.

Students are requested to bring with them to class their own hair, fur, or feathers; all other necessary materials will be supplied. Hair can be self-cut, sourced from barber shops or hair salons (who are usually happy to provide you with swept up hair), from beauty supply shops (hair is sold as extensions), or from wig suppliers. Students will leave class with their own piece of hair jewelry and the knowledge to create future projects.

Karen Bachmann is a fine jeweler with over 25 years experience, including several years on staff as a master jeweler at Tiffany and Co. She is a Professor in the Jewelry Design Dept at Fashion Institute of Technology as well as the School of Art and Design at Pratt Institute. She has recently completed her MA in Art History at SUNY Purchase with a thesis entitled Hairy Secrets:... In her downtime she enjoys collecting biological specimens, amateur taxidermy and punk rock. 
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Morbid Curiosity, or Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away
An Illustrated Lecture and Book Signing with author Eric G. Wilson
Date: Thursday, June 6
Time: 8:00
Admission: $5
Produced by Morbid Anatomy

"Why can’t we look away? Whether we admit it or not, we’re fascinated by evil. Dark fantasies, morbid curiosities, Schadenfreude: As conventional wisdom has it, these are the symptoms of our wicked side, and we succumb to them at our own peril. But we’re still compelled to look whenever we pass a grisly accident on the highway, and there’s no slaking our thirst for gory entertainments like horror movies and police procedurals. What makes these spectacles so irresistible? Author Eric G. Wilson attempts to discover the source of our morbid fascinations, drawing on the findings of biologists, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers, theologians, and artists. A professor of English with a penchant for Poe as well as a lifelong student of the macabre, Wilson believes there’s something nourishing in darkness. He believes that to repress death is to lose the feeling of life, and that a closeness to death discloses our most fertile energies.

Eric G Wilson is Thomas H. Pritchard Professor of English at Wake Forest University and author of several books that explore the power of life's darker sides, including Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck: Why We Can't Look Away; Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy; and The Mercy of Eternity: A Memoir of Depression and Grace. 

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Squirrel Taxidermy and the Ancient Technique of Wrapped Body with Rogue Taxidermist Katie Innamorato
Date: Sunday, June 23
Time: 12 - 6.30
Admission: $275
***Maximum class size: 8 Students; Must RSVP to katie.innamorato [at] gmail.com
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

This class will introduce students to basic taxidermy processes. As with other classes, this is only open to 8 students to allow for a more intimate one on one environment. Each student will be provided with their own squirrel which they will skin, flesh, and prep for mounting. Students will be taught how to wrap bodies for the animals using the carcasses for reference. Wrapping is an old school traditional taxidermy process that many taxidermists do not bother with today. Pre-sculpted head forms will be available for students, but if they are feeling more adventurous they can carve their own! Students will be able to pose their squirrels however they want and are encouraged to bring in any props they may want to dress the animal up in, and items to secure their mounts on. Animal remains will be collected at the end of class and either the students can take them with them, or the instructor will dispose of them.

Rogue taxidermist Katie Innamorato has a BFA in sculpture from SUNY New Paltz, has been featured on the hit TV show "Oddities," and has had her work featured at La Luz de Jesus gallery in Los Angeles, California. She is self and professionally taught, and has won multiple first place ribbons and awards at the Garden State Taxidermy Association Competition. Her work is focussed on displaying the cyclical connection between life and death and growth and decomposition. Katie is a member of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, and with all M.A.R.T. members she adheres to strict ethical guidelines when acquiring specimens and uses roadkill, scrap, and donated skins to create mounts.

Her website and blogs-
www.afterlifeanatomy.com
www.afterlifeanatomy.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/afterlifeanatomy
www.etsy.com/shop/afterlifeanatomy

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Morbid Anatomy Presents at London's Last Tuesday Society this June and July
A series of London-based events, workshops, special tours, screenings and spectacles surveying the interstices of art and medicine, death and culture curated by Observatory's Morbid Anatomy
Date: June 2 - July 25
Time: Variable, but most lectures begin at 7 PM
Location: The Last Tuesday Society at 11 Mare Street, London, E8 4RP map here) unless otherwise specified

The series will feature Morbid Anatomy's signature mix of museum professionals, professors, librarians, artists, rogue scholars, and autodidacts--many flown in direct from Morbid Anatomy's base in Brooklyn, New York--to elucidate on a wide array of topics including (but not limited to!) The Neapolitan Cult of the Dead; "human zoos;" "speaking reliquaries;" why music drives women mad; eccentric folk medicine collections; Santa Muerte (or "Saint Death); dissection and masturbation; dissection and magic; Victorian memorial hair jewelry; the "hot nurse" in popular fiction; The Danse Macabre; "a cinematic survey of The Vampires of London;" and anatomical waxworks and death.

There will be also two special backstage tours: one of the legendary Blythe House, home of the vast and incredible collection of Henry Wellcome and the other of the Natural History Museum's zoological collection, featuring the famously gorgeous Blaschka invertebrate glass model collection; a special magic lantern show featuring "the weirdest, most inappropriate and completely baffling examples of lantern imagery" conjured by collector and scholar Professor Heard, author of Phantasmagoria- The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern; a screening of rare short films from the BFI National Archive documenting folk music, dance, customs and sport; and workshops in the creation of Victorian hair work, lifelike wax wounds, and bat skeletons in glass domes.

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Wax Wound Workshop with medical artist Eleanor Crook
Sunday, June 2, 2013 at 1:00 - 5:00 PM
More here

Let acclaimed sculptor Eleanor Crook guide you in creating your very own wax wound. Crook has lent her experience to professionals ranging from forensic law enforcement officers to plastic surgeons, so is well placed to help you make a horrendously lifelike scar, boil or blister.
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Art, Wax, Death and Anatomy : Illustrated lecture with art historian Roberta Ballestriero
Monday, June 3, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Wax modelling, or ceroplastics, is of ancient origin but was revived in 14th century Italy with the cult of Catholic votive objects, or ex votos.  Art Historian Roberta Ballestriero will discuss the art and history of wax modeling sacred and profane; she will also showcase many of its greatest masterworks.
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Music Driving Women Mad: The History of Medical Fears of its Effects on Female Bodies and Minds: Illustrated lecture with Dr. James Kennaway
Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Over the past few centuries, countless physicians and writers have asserted that music could cause very serious medical problems for the 'weaker sex'. Not only could it bring on symptoms of nervousness and hysteria, it could also cause infertility, nymphomania and even something called 'melosexualism'. This talk will give an outline of this strange debate, using the raciest stories to be found in gynaecological textb
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Solitary vice? Sex and Dissection in Georgian London With Dr Simon Chaplin
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

In this lavishly illustrated lecture, Simon Chaplin explores the sexual undertones of the anatomy schools of Georgian London, in which students dissected grave-robbed bodies in the back-rooms of their teachers' houses, while their masters explored new strategies for presenting their work to polite audiences through museums and lectures.
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Heartthrobs of the Human Zoo: Ethnographic Exhibitions and Captive Celebrities of Turn of the Century America: An Illustrated Lecture with Betsy Bradley
Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

From ransomed Congolese pygmies to winsome Eskimo babies, the American world's fairs and patriotic expositions  present history with a number of troubling ethnographic celebrities, and their stories offer a rare glimpse inside the psychology and culture of imperial America at the turn of a new century.
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The Astounding Collection of Henry Wellcome: Blythe House Backstage Tour with Selina Hurley, Assistant Curator of Medicine, The Science Museum
Friday, June 7, 2013 at 3:00pm
More here

Henry Wellcome (1853 - 1936)----early pharmaceutical magnate and man behind the Wellcome Trust, Collection, and Library--was the William Randolph Hearst of the medical collecting world. That collection, possibly the finest medical collection in the world, now resides in Blythe House, kept in trust by The Science Museum on permanent loan from the Wellcome Trust. Today, a lucky fifteen people will get a rare chance to see this collection, featuring many artifacts of which have never before been on public view, in this backstage tour led Selina Hurley, Assistant Curator of Medicine at The Science Museum.
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Neapolitan Cult of the Dead with Chiara Ambrosio
Monday, June 10, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

In tonight's illustrated lecture, Italian artist and filmmaker Chiara Ambrosio will elucidate this curious and fascinating "Neapolitan Cult of the Dead" and situate it within a the rich death culture and storied history of Naples.
  
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A Vile Vaudeville of Gothic Attractions: Illustrated lecture by Mervyn Heard, author of Phantasmagoria- The Secret Life of the Magic Lantern
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

An illustrated talk in which writer and showman 'Professor' Mervyn Heard waxes scattergun- sentimental over some of the more bizarre, live theatrical experiences of the 18th, 19th and early 20th century - from the various ghastly manifestations of the phantasmagoria to performing hangmen, self-crucifiers and starving brides.

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Professor Heard's Most Extraordinary Magic Lantern Show with Mervyn Heard
Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Professor Heard is well known to patrons of the Last Tuesday Lecture programme for his sell-out magic lantern entertainments. In this latest assault on the eye he summons up some of the weirdest, most inappropriate and completely baffling examples of lantern imagery, lantern stories and optical effects by special request of Morbid Anatomy.

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"Speaking Reliquaries" and Christian Death Rituals: Part One of "Hairy Secrets" Series With Karen Bachmann
Thursday, June 13, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry--master jeweler and art historian Karen Bachmann will focus on what are termed "speaking" reliquaries: the often elaborate containers which house the preserved body parts--or relics--of saints and martyrs with shapes which reflect that of the body-part contained within.

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Hair Art Workshop Class: The Victorian Art of Hair Jewellery With Karen Bachmann
Friday, June 14, 2013 at 1:00pm
More here

Hair jewellery was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal lockers or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class will explore a modern take on the genre.

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The History of the Memento Mori and Death's Head Iconography: Part Two of "Hairy Secrets" Series Illustrated lecture with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
Friday, June 14, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

In tonight's lecture--the second in a 3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry--master jeweler and art historian Karen Bachmann will explore the development of the memento mori,objects whose very raison d'être is to remind the beholder that they, too, will die.

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Hair Art Workshop Class: The Victorian Art of Hair Jewellery With Karen Bachmann
Saturday, June 15, 2013 at 1:00pm (More here)
Sunday, June 16, 2013 at 1:00pm (More here)

Hair jewellery was an enormously popular form of commemorative art that began in the late 17th century and reached its zenith during the Victorian Era. Hair, either of someone living or deceased, was encased in metal lockers or woven to enshrine the human relic of a loved one. This class will explore a modern take on the genre.

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The Victorian Love Affair with Death and the Art of Mourning Hair Jewelry: Illustrated lecture with Art Historian and Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
Monday, June 17, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

The Victorians had a love affair with death which they expressed in a variety of ways, both intensely sentimental and macabre. Tonight's lecture-the last in a 3-part series on human relics and Victorian mourning jewelry-will take as its focus the apex of the phenomenon of hair jewelry fashion in the Victorian Era as an expression of this passion.

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Dissection and Magic with Constanza Isaza Martinez
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

This lecture examines images of human corpses in Early Modern European art in relation to two specific themes: the practice of 'witchcraft' or 'magic'; and the emergent medical profession, particularly anatomical dissection.
  
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Future Death. Future Dead Bodies. Future Cemeteries Illustrated lecture by Dr. John Troyer, Deputy Director of the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath
Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Dr. John Troyer, from the Centre for Death & Society, University of Bath, will discuss three kinds of postmortem futures: Future Death, Future Dead Bodies, and Future Cemeteries. Central to these Futures is the human corpse and its use in new forms of body disposal technology, digital technology platforms, and definitions of death.

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‘She Healed Their Bodies With Her White Hot Passions’: The Role of the Nurse in Romantic Fiction with Natasha McEnroe Illustrated lecture Natasha McEnroe, Director of the Florence Nightingale Museum
Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 7:00pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/478987722156193/

Victorian portrayals of the nurse show either a drunken and dishonest old woman or an angelic and devoted being, which changes to a 20th-century caricature just as pervasive - that of the 'sexy nurse'. In this talk, Natasha McEnroe will explore the links between the enforced intimacy of the sickroom and the handling of bodies for more recreational reasons.

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Face lift or face reconstruction? Redesigning the Museum Vrolik, Amsterdam's anatomical museum An illustrated lecture with Dr. Laurens de Rooy, curator of the Museum Vrolik in Amsterdam
Monday, June 24, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Counting more than five thousand preparations and specimens, the Museum Vrolikianum, the private collection of father Gerard and his son Willem Vrolik was an amazing object of interest one hundred and fifty years ago. In the 1840s and 50s this museum, established in Gerard's stately mansion on the river Amstel, grew into a famous collection that attracted admiring scientists from both the Netherlands and abroad. In this talk, Museum Vrolik curator Dr Laurens de Rooy will take you on a guided tour of the new museum, and give an overview of all the other aspects of the 'new' Museum Vrolik.

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The Walking Dead in 1803: An Illustrated Lecture with Phil Loring, Curator of Psychology at the Science Museum in London
Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

A visiting Italian startled Londoners at the turn of the 19th century by making decapitated animals and executed men open their eyes and move around, as if on the verge of being restored to life. This was not magic but the power of electricity from the newly invented Galvanic trough, or battery. This talk will discuss a variety of historical instruments from the Science Museum's collections that figured in these re-animation experiments, including the apparatus used by Galvani himself in his laboratory in Bologna.
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The Influencing Machine: James Tilly Matthews and the Air Loom with Mike Jay
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Confined in Bedlam in 1797 as an incurable lunatic, James Tilly Matthews' case is one of the most bizarre in the annals of psychiatry. He was the first person to insist that his mind was being controlled by a machine: the Air Loom, a terrifying secret weapon whose mesmeric rays and mysterious gases were brainwashing politicians and plunging Europe into revolution, terror and war. But Matthews' case was even stranger than his doctors realised: many of the incredible conspiracies in which he claimed to be involved were entirely real.

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A Waxen France: Madame Tussaud’s Representations of the French: Illustrated Lecture by Pamela Pilbeam Emeritus Professor of French History, Royal Holloway, University of London and author of Madame Tussaud and the History of Waxworks
Thursday, June 27, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

Madame Tussaud's presentation of French politics and history did much to inform and influence the popular perception of France among the British. This lecture will explore that view and how it changed during the nineteenth century.

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Backstage Tour of the Zoological Collection of the Natural History Museum with Miranda Lowe
Friday, June 28, 2013 at 3:00pm
More here

Today, ten lucky people will get to join Miranda Lowe, Collections Manager of the Aquatic Invertebrates Division, for a special backstage tour of The Natural History Museum of London. The tour will showcase the zoological spirit collections in the Darwin Centre, some of Darwin's barnacles and the famed collection of glass marine invertebrate models crafted by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka in the 19th and early 20th century.
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Bat in Glass Dome Workshop: Part of DIY Wunderkammer Series With Wilder Duncan (formerly of Evolution Store, Soho) and Laetitia Barbier, head librarian at The Morbid Anatomy Library
Saturday, June 29, 2013 at 1:00pm (more here)
Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 1:00pm (more here)

In this class, students will learn how to create an osteological preparation of a bat in the fashion of 19th century zoological displays. A bat skeleton, a glass dome, branches, glue, tools, and all necessary materials will be provided for each student.  The classes will focus on teaching ancient methods of specimen preparation that link science with art: students will create compositions involving natural elements and, according to their taste, will compose a traditional Victorian environment or a modern display.
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The Coming of Age of the Danse Macabre on the Verge of the Industrial Age with Alexander L. Bieri Illustrated lecture with Alexander L. Bieri
Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

The lecture not only discusses Schellenberg's danse macabre in detail, but also gives an insight into the current fascination with vanitas and its depictions, especially focusing on the artistic exploitation of the theme and takes into consideration the history of anatomical dissection and preparation.
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"Viva la Muerte: The Mushrooming Cult of Saint Death" Illustrated lecture and book signing with Andrew Chesnut
Wednesday, July 10, 2013 at 7:00pm
More here

The worship of Santa Muerte, a psuedo Catholic saint which takes the form of a personified and clothed lady death, is on the rise and increasingly controversial in Mexico and the United States. Literally translating to "Holy Death" or "Saint Death," the worship of Santa Muerte-like Day of the Dead-is a popular form of religious expression rooted in a rich syncretism of the beliefs of the native Latin Americans and the colonizing Spanish Catholics.
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From Blue Beads to Hair Sandwiches: Edward Lovett and London's Folk Medicine: An Illustrated lecture with Ross MacFarlane, Research Engagement Officer in the Wellcome Library
Monday, July 15, 2013 at 7:00pm
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During his life Edward Lovett (1852-1933) amassed one of the largest collections of objects pertaining to 'folk medicine' in the British Isles.  Lovett particularly focused his attention on objects derived from contemporary, working class Londoners, believing that the amulets, charms and mascots he collected - and which were still being used in 20th century London - were 'survivals' of antiquated, rural practices.
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The Vampires of London: A Cinematic Survey with William Fowler (BFI) and Mark Pilkington (Strange Attractor)
Thursday, July 18, 2013 at 7:00pm
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This heavily illustrated presentation and film clip selection explores London's Highgate Cemetery as a locus of horror in the 1960s and 1970s cinema, from mondo and exploitation to classic Hammer horror.
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"Here's a Health to the Barley Mow: a Century of Folk Customs and Ancient Rural Games" Screenings of Short Films from the BFI Folk Film Archives with William Fowler
Wednesday, July 24, 2013 at 7:00pm
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Tonight, the British Film Institute's William Fowler will present a number of rare and beautiful short films from the BFI National Archive and Regional Film Archives showing some of our rich traditions of folk music, dance, customs and sport. Highlights include the alcoholic folk musical Here's a Health to the Barley Mow (1955), Doc Rowe's speedy sword dancing film and the Padstow Mayday celebration Oss Oss Wee Oss (Alan Lomax/Peter Kennedy 1953).
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Of Satyrs, Horses and Camels: Natural History in the Imaginative Mode: illustrated lecture by Daniel Margócsy, Hunter College, New York
Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 7:00pm
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From its beginnings, science was (and still is) an imaginative and speculative enterprise, just like the arts. This talk traces the exchange of visual information between the major artists of the Renaissance and the leading natural historians of the scientific revolution. It shows how painters' and printmakers' fictitious images of unicorns, camels and monkfish came to populate the botanical and zoological encyclopedias of early modern Europe.

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You can find out more about all events here.