Project description

General aim

The general aim of the project is a description and analysis of the Leiden anatomical collections from a humanities perspective. The project investigates how historical and cultural practices and concerns have shaped anatomical preparations and how exhibitions of the anatomical body have informed cultural imagery of the body.

The programme consists of three interrelated (art- and medical) historical projects investigating the cultural and academic embedding of the collections. Moreover, on a meta- level the synthesising project analyses the dynamics of anatomical collections as public history. Since anatomical collections are today increasingly viewed not only as a specialists’ affair but also as cultural heritage relevant to the public at large, the anatomical past must be taken into consideration. It does not do to dismiss public interest in the anatomical body as mere ‘popularisation’ or ‘entertainment’, but it is necessary to develop new positions on the relationships between academic anatomy and public interest in the body.

This will (a) importantly contribute to a better understanding of today’s tensions accompanying the public display of human remains and (b) help with the practical question of how to exhibit the anatomical past in today’s museum.