20 ANTHROPOLOGYTODAYVOL22NO6,DecembeR2006

GUNTHER VON HAGENS,

INVENTOR AND IMITATOR
A response to Uli Linke (AT 21[5])
I found a lot of interest in Uli Linkes pen-
etrating article on Gunther von Hagens Body
Worlds exhibition. I do not especially intend
to take von Hagens defence, for sometimes
his bad taste is perplexing. While Linke finds
a disturbing fascination with fascist mascu-
linity in Body Worlds, her analysis omits
mention of the history of anatomy to which
these specimens relate. Some of the aspects
she found disturbing the illusion of life after
death, the iconographically hyper-visible
sex, and the mapping of the female body by
textual markers are among the striking char-
acteristics of anatomical illustrations from the
16th century up to the early years of the 19th
century. Of course, reference to anatomical
and artistic traditions does not legitimize von
Hagens practices per se, but it does inscribe
them in a historical framework that must be
taken into account when criticizing them.
The illusion of life in the dissected corpse
was one of the most important particularities
of the anatomical figure as it first appeared
in the famous illustrated treatises, such as
those of Vesalius Fabrica (1543) (Fig. 2)
and Berengario da Carpi (1521) (Fig. 10).
This can be understood as being rooted in the
Renaissance Aristotelian conception of the
relation between the body and soul (inextri-
cably bound together) and the strong interest
in movement (the relation between form and
function in teleological thought). The illusion
of life is also largely connected to the motto
of anatomical science: Know thyself (see
Carline 1999 and Shupbach 1982), which is
best illustrated by anatomical figures involved
in so-called self-demonstration, exactly as
von Hagens corpses are today.
Von Hagens himself notes that in the past
dissected bodies were displayed in aestheti-
cally pleasing, lifelike poses (von Hagens:
13), and further explains the practical need for
lifelike poses: the anatomy of a corpse is not
very interesting in and of itself. It is signifi-
cant only because through it we can study the
anatomy of living human beings to a certain
degree [] Hence, it is only natural that plas-
tinated whole-body specimens should be posi-
tioned upright and realistically [] Doing so
carries on the tradition begun by the founding
fathers of anatomy (ibid.: 33-34).
After inventing a means of preserving
the human body, von Hagens then searched
for poses to give to his corpses. Although
he invented a few, like the Cyclist and the
Basketball Player, he largely imitated the
famous anatomical representations and prepa-
rations of the 17th and 18th centuries, which,
he says, are now considered part of mans
cultural heritage (ibid.: 13). His horse rider
(Fig. 6) is obviously inspired by Fragonards
anatomical preparation of corpses, including
the famous Cavalier de lapocalypse (Fig. 5),
which is reproduced in von Hagens catalogue
(ibid.: 36). The Walking Man (Fig. 1) mimics
the pose of the second muscle man of the
Fabrica (Fig. 2). The Swordsman (Fig. 3)
has his equivalent in a figure in Bartholomeo
Eustachis posthumous treatise (Fig. 4),
although he originally lacked the sword which
motivated his pose (Eustachi 1783).
Uli Linke sees in the Skin Man (Fig. 7) a
set of motifs that mark the transfiguration of
this corpse white skin, classical Caucasian
facial features, a muscular body and heroic
pose which suggest a return to a disturbing
fascination with fascist masculinity (Linke
2005: 18). But this plastinated specimen is
first and foremost the heir of an illustration by
Becerra for Valverde de Hamuscos Historia
de la composicion del cuerpo humano (1556)
(Fig. 8), in turn inspired by Michelangelos
self-portrait as Saint Bartholomew, holding
his own skin and the knife of his martyrdom
(Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 1541;
see Fig. 9). Both historical sources are repro-
duced in von Hagens Body Worlds exhibi-
tion catalogue, where the caption presents the
Skin Man as Gunther von Hagens late 20th-
century plastinated imitation of Valverdes
Bartholomew-like corch (op. cit.: 220). In
the context of Renaissance anatomy, the rhet-
oric of the heroic pose a man holding both
his skin and a knife is an allegory of know
thyself referring to the flaying of Marsyas by
Apollo.
Regarding the sexing of the corpse, it is
essential to consider that ancient anatomical
illustrations were already merging the medical
and the erotic gaze. This is partly a consequence
of the animation of the corpses and the illu-
sion of life as Canguilhem points out, desire
is what moves the body ([1965] 1992: 106).
Labels and arrows pointing to parts of the body
textual markers have long been a tool in
anatomical illustration to organize information,
to give meaning to the image, as in Charles
Estiennes treatise (1545) (Figs 11 and 12). It
is quite unfair to denounce the mapping of the
female body with textual markers when most
of the illustrations in von Hagens catalogue,
including those of male bodies, incorporate
such markers, as the Swordsman exemplifies.
In the Renaissance, minute studies were
devoted to female genital anatomy and these
parts functions. Anatomists and surgeons
sometimes undertook in their treatises a
leon de chose, as Ambroise Par, surgeon
to the king, did in his Deux livres de chirurgie
(1578), where a chapter is explicitly titled:
The manner of having sexual intercourse to
have children (op. cit.: 21-22). It was con-
sidered necessary, according to 16th-century
beliefs about conception and its religious
entailment, that both partners reach climax in
order to conceive a child, and thus avoid the
sin of coitus without progeny (see Flandrin
1982: 125-126).
This also explains the voluptuous bodies
like those of the self-dissecting women
depicted in Berengarios treatise (FIg. 13),
as well as in Estiennes De dissectione.(Figs
11-12). Kelletts remarkable analysis (1955)
showed how these were inspired by Perino del
Vaga and Rossos Loves of gods, designed in
1527 (Kellett 1955: 86).
von Hagens corpses may convey erotic
connotations, like the ancient anatomical
representations that inspired them. However,
it is neither only in Germany nor only in von
Hagens Body Worlds that living corpses
are eroticized. And if it is true that the male
body, up until the 17th century, was the norm
by which all bodies were measured, the asser-
tion that von Hagens has confined the female
body to displaying matters of reproduction is
not correct, for his Swimmer (2001) and his
Archer (2005) are also women.
Von Hagens specimens are not only
inspired by some of the most famous ancient
anatomical representations, but also by modern
art. For instance, the Drawer Body (1999)
recalls Salvador Dals surrealistic sculpture
after the Venus de Milo (1936), while the
Runner, focusing on movement, is related
to Umberto Boccionis sculpture Unique
Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) (see von
Hagens 2005: 286). These examples further
emphasize that Von Hagens has simplified his
task by shaping his specimens after famous
models. This practice has been characteristic
of anatomical representation, almost from the
beginning: for example, in the Fabrica, the
Torso Belvedere is used to frame a depiction
of anatomy of the male abdomen.
The poster advertising a public autopsy
performed by von Hagens in 2002 reproduces
the frontispice of De humani corporis fabrica.
Obviously von Hagens is willing to identify
himself with Vesalius, what the psychoanalyst
Didier Anzieu would call a heroic identifi-
cation (Anzieu 1981: 15-16). Von Hagens
extensive reference to the history of anatomy
is also a means to inscribe himself in this his-
tory as one of its great masters. Again, I do
not mean to imply that prior anatomical and
artistic traditions in any way legitimize von
Hagens practices. Von Hagens may have his
own nefarious reasons for the way he displays
his exhibits. But we cannot purport to ana-
lyze the meaning of Body Worlds without
acknowledging the influence of these tradi-
tions. The words Nazi and fascist weigh
heavily: for that reason they should be used
with the greatest care. l
Raphael Cuir
raphaelcuir@free.fr
Raphael Cuir is an art historian. He was a guest scholar
at the Getty Research Institute, 2005-2006, and will be
teaching at Otis College, Los Angeles, California from
January.
I would like to extend special thanks to Charles Stewart and
Yannis Hamilakis, my fellow scholars at the Getty Research
Institute, 2005-2006.
Anzieu, D. 1981. Le corps de luvre: Essais
psychanalytiques sur le travail crateur. Paris:
Gallimard.
comment
ANTHROPOLOGYTODAYVOL22NO6,DecembeR2006 21
Canguilhem, G. 1965 [1992]. La connaissance de la vie.
Paris: Vrin.
Carlino, A. 1999. Paper bodies: A catalogue of anatomical
fugitive sheets, 1538-1678. London: Wellcome Institute
for the History of Medicine.
da Carpi, Berengario 1521. Commentaria cum amplissimis
additionibus super anatomiam mundini una cum textu
ejusdem in pristinum et verum nitorem redacto. Bologna:
Hieronymum de Benedictis.
Estienne, C. 1545. De dissectione partium corporis humani
libri tres. Paris: Simon de Colines.
Eustachi, B. 1783. Tabulae anatomicae. Rome: Ex
Typographia Pauli Junchi.
Flandrin, J.-L. 1982. La vie sexuelle des gens maris dans
lancienne socit: De la doctrine de lglise la ralit
des comportements. In: Aris, P. and Blin, A. (eds)
Sexualits occidentales, pp. 125-126. Paris: Seuil.
Kellett, C.E. 1955. Perino del Vaga et les illustrations pour
lanatomie dEstienne. sculape, April: 76-89.
Linke, U. 2005. Touching the corpse: The unmaking of
memory in the body museum. Anthropology Today 21(5):
13-19
Par, A. 1573. Deux livres de chirurgie. Paris: Andr
Wechel.
Schupbach, W. 1982. The paradox of Rembrandts Anatomy
of Dr. Tulp. London: Wellcome Institute for the History
of Medicine.
Valverde de Hamusco, J. 1556. Historia de la composicion
del cuerpo humano. Rome.
Vesalius, A. 1543. De humani corporis fabrica libri septem.
Basel: J. Oporinus.
von Hagens, G. 2005. Body Worlds: The anatomical
exhibition of real human bodies, trans. F. Kelly.
Heidelberg: Arts & Sciences.
Fig. 1 (above right).
Gunther von Hagens
whole body plastinate.
The image is reversed
to show its conformity
with Vesalius model,
although the positions
of the limbs are inversed.
Fig. 2 (left). Andr
Vsale, 2nd muscle plate
from De humani corporis
fabrica libri septem,
1543.
Fig. 10. Illustration from Berengario da Carpis
Commentaria cum amplissimis additionibus super anatomia
mundini, 1521.
Fig. 5 (left). Honor Fragonard, Horseman of the Apocalypse,
1766-1771.
Fig. 6 (right). Gunther von Hagens, Rearing Horse with Rider, 2000.
Fig. 3 (below).
Gunther von Hagens
Swordsman
Fig. 4. (right).
Bartholomeo Eustachi,
(c.1500-1574),
illustration from Tabulae
anatomicae.
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22 ANTHROPOLOGYTODAYVOL22NO6,DecembeR2006
Fig. 9. Michelango, Self-portrait as Saint Bartholomew holding his own skin and
the knife of his murderer, Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 1541.
Fig. 7 (above right). Gunther von Hagens, Skin Man, 1997.
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Fig. 12. Illustration from Estiennes De Dissectione partium
corporis humani libri tres, p. 287.
Fig. 11. Illustration from Charles Estiennes De Dissectione
partium corporis humani libri tres, 1545, p. 285.
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Fig. 8 (left).
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Historia de la
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