Anatomical Theatre
Anatomical Theatre is a photographic exhibition documenting artifacts collected by and exhibited in medical museums throughout Europe and the United States. The objects in these photos range from preserved human remains to models made from ivory, wax, and papier mâché. The artifacts span from the 16th Century to the 20th, and include examples from a wide range of countries, artists, and preparators.
Museums Featured in Anatomical Theatre were the Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences in Birmingham, Alabama, the Museum of Anatomical Waxes “Luigi Cattezneo” (Museo Delle Cere Anatomiche “Luigi Cattaneo”) in Bologna, Italy, the Federal Pathologic-Anatomical Museum, or "Narrenturm" (Pathologisch-anatomisches Bundesmuseum) in Vienna, Austria, the Gordon Museum in London, England, the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, Scotland and the Hunterian Museum in London, England, The Josephinum in Vienna, Austria, The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., the Semmelweis Museum, Library and Archives of the History of Medicine in Budapest, Hungary, “La Specola” (Museo di Storia Naturale) in Florence, Italy, and The Vrolik in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Anatomical Theatre was exhibited at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences in September 2007. It was supported in part by a Reynolds Associates Research Fellowship in the History of the Health Sciences fellowship.
Special thanks to: Heather Chaplin, Tara Cunningham, James Edmonson, Richard Faulk, Megan Fitzpatrick, Michael Flannery, Pam Grossman, Eric Huang, Laura Lindgren, Susannah McDonald, Evan Michelson, Mike Johns, Gerard Newland, Rosamond Purcell, Stefanie Rookis, Michael Sappol, Gretchen Worden, as well as the curators at all the museums I visited who so graciously opened their institutions to me and my camera.
