In the 4th century BCE, Aristotle – better-known for his philosophy than for his anatomical work, which was nonetheless invaluable – called for the practice of human dissection to investigate sources of pain and disease.
#BLASPHEMOUS DONATION BOX SKIN#
The only sanctioned cutting of skin took place during animal sacrifice, but the skin itself was not burned, rather kept as a symbol of integrity. Mourners would bring out a corpse before dawn, when the streets were empty, to keep it from tainting passersby.
Skin, a symbol of wholeness, was inviolable. The ancient Greeks viewed the body not as a divine vessel but rather as a source of pollution, and their sacred laws, etched into the stone walls of their sanctuaries, prohibited tampering with corpses. The story of anatomy must be told in images.Ī relentless desire to reveal images once ran counter to the laws of society. It is a radical, disturbing about-face, a transgression across barriers, literally visceral, penetrating the membrane of our own skin. Some have looked outside the physical self, at the world around them or in the skies, while others have turned their attention inward, to the human body itself. They are scientists, in particular naturalists, and their impulse manifests in different ways. But there are those for whom the desire to see becomes an almost spiritual imperative, one that they must live by. In most of us, curiosity peaks at childhood, or morphs, in adulthood, into a hobby.
The locked drawer, the unopened box – we all know how it feels to want to see inside.
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