{"id":164,"date":"2009-08-10T10:41:09","date_gmt":"2009-08-10T09:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=164"},"modified":"2009-08-10T13:55:48","modified_gmt":"2009-08-10T12:55:48","slug":"if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2009\/08\/10\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\/","title":{"rendered":"If you’re at a loose end in London…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found myself yesterday at the Wellcome Collection, one of my favourite museums in London and somewhere I visit reasonably frequently (not being too big, and conveniently located on the Euston Road, it’s perfect to fill those odd hours between the end of the hangover and the train back to Manchester).\u00a0 The permanent exhibition has a couple of things that I could happily go and see again and again, but it’s the temporary ones that are the real draw – and the current one, Exquisite Bodies<\/a><\/em>, is something I’d thoroughly recommend.<\/p>\n

In the 19th century, despite the best efforts of body snatchers, the demand from medical schools for fresh cadavers far outstripped the supply. One solution to this gruesome problem came in the form of lifelike wax models. These models often took the form of alluring female figures that could be stripped and split into different sections. Other models were more macabre, showing the body ravaged by ‘social diseases’ such as venereal disease, tuberculosis and alcohol and drug addiction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s these waxworks on which the exhibition primarily focuses – and they are remarkable.\u00a0 Joseph Towne’s models, made\u00a0for teaching purposes at Guy’s hospital,\u00a0are more than just educational tools: they’re works of art in their own right, the clear ancestors of work by Ron Mueck<\/a>.\u00a0 The exhibition has clear echoes, too, of Gunther von Hagens’ Body Worlds<\/em> shows, and of the Spectacular Bodies<\/a><\/em> show at the Hayward Gallery a few years ago.<\/p>\n

Some of the works on show would be used as devices to educate not just medics, but also the general public, about their bodies – they would be shown at fairs, and used for public “dissections” (with men and women being admitted to separate shows, of course…).\u00a0 Representations of the effects of VD seem to have been popular – and, let’s face it, we know why: there’s the same ghoulish attraction today.\u00a0 Perhaps that’s why some of the exhibits are behind a curtain, and why the show’s not recommended for under-18s.<\/p>\n

For myself, these worries seem to be unjustified.\u00a0 There was a couple of children there with their parents yesterday, and there’s nothing that’d worry me were my hypothetical children to see it; as a poster advertising a “dissection” in Boston, Lincs, points out – to the enquiring mind, there should be no taboo; facts are facts are facts.\u00a0 Besides: if it’s images of genitalia that you want, diseased or otherwise, my guess is that a serious-minded museum isn’t going to be your first port of call.\u00a0 Under-18s with access to Google know that, too…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found myself yesterday at the Wellcome Collection, one of my favourite museums in London and somewhere I visit reasonably frequently (not being too big, and conveniently located on the Euston Road, it’s perfect to fill those odd hours between the end of the hangover and the train back to Manchester).\u00a0 The permanent exhibition has […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[577,576,472],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resource","category-the-art-of-medicine","category-thinking-aloud"],"yoast_head":"\nIf you're at a loose end in London... - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2009\/08\/10\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If you're at a loose end in London... - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I found myself yesterday at the Wellcome Collection, one of my favourite museums in London and somewhere I visit reasonably frequently (not being too big, and conveniently located on the Euston Road, it’s perfect to fill those odd hours between the end of the hangover and the train back to Manchester).\u00a0 The permanent exhibition has [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2009\/08\/10\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-08-10T09:41:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-08-10T12:55:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/08\\\/10\\\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/08\\\/10\\\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"If you’re at a loose end in London…\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-08-10T09:41:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-08-10T12:55:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/08\\\/10\\\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Resource\",\"The Art of Medicine\",\"Thinking Aloud\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/08\\\/10\\\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/08\\\/10\\\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2009\\\/08\\\/10\\\/if-youre-at-a-loose-end-in-london\\\/\",\"name\":\"If you're at a loose end in London... - 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