I am a bit obsessed with anatomical studies and drawings at the moment, so I took myself along to the Doctors, Dissection & Resurrection Men exhibition on at the Museum of London. What a treat. Not only was there a sufficient amount of ominous, moody lighting, there was also such items as an authentic wooden dissecting table (1750-1870), a patented iron coffin (to stop grave robbing) belonging to a Mrs Campbell who died in 1819, a small, bottled specimen of the brain of the famous William Burke (1829) and many dissection and amputation kits, just to name a few. I was in my ghoulish happy place.

Specimen of William Burkes brain. A wee keepsake. 

This fantastic exhibition came about after an extensive excavation at the Royal London Hospital in 2006. A puzzling mix of bones were discovered at a forgotten burial site in use between 1825-1841, which showed evidence of dissection, amputation, post-mortems, and bones being wired together to create articulated skeletons for teaching aids. The burial ground was used for the bodies of the hospital patients who were not claimed by family or friends. Many of the skulls were missing as they were probably of particular interest so were kept. Interestingly, there were also a few animal skeletons found in the graves, used for comparative anatomy (including a turtle and a monkey).

Of course aside from the all the skeletal remains and grotesque, yet surprisingly shiny surgical equipment, there were stunning anatomical drawings, etchings, wax figures, and satirical artworks.

Wax castings of diseased hands. 

'The Reward of Cruelty' 1751

William Hogarth

But the best must always be saved until last, and this piece almost gave me a nose bleed I thought it was so great. It wasn't just surgeons who liked cutting up dead people- artists partook in this activity too. The two often had a close relationship, and in 1801, in a bid to prove that most crucifixion depictions were anatomically incorrect, the surgeons Thomas Banks and Joseph Constantine Carpue teamed up with artists Benjamin West and Richard Cosway.  James Legg had just been executed for murdering a fellow pensioner, and the team of artists and surgeons wasted no time in taking him fresh from the gallows, nailing him to a cross, removing his skin, and making a plaster cast. 

'Anatomical Crucifixion of James Legg' 1801

Thomas Banks 

It may seem grisly, but this is a beautiful commentary on the scientific study of anatomy, corporal punishment, history, religion and art.