Dream Shop: Nautilus Antiques, Modena, Italy

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Above are a few photos from Evan and I's recent pilgrimage (and, in Evan's case, epic buying trip) to the wonderful Nautilus Antiques of Modena, Italy. This shop--which had us enrapt for over an hour-- felt a bit like what I imagine Obscura Antiques might look like if it had easy access to the European antiquities such as skull reliquaries, wunderkammer trinkets, ancient taxidermy, and medical museum discards.

In the top image, you can see my travel companion Evan Michelson posing with Alessandro Molinengo, co-owner of Nautilus and recent guest poster to this blog (post 1, post 2); the second image down features Fausto Gazzi, his business partner. Both are posing with a favorite artifact for sale in the shop; in Alessandro's case, a taxidermied freak pig preparation and, in Fausto's case, a wax mannequin head by, in his own words, "the Michelangelo of mannequins" Pierre Himans. All other images are installation shots of the shop.

You can find out more about Nautilus by clicking here; you can "like" the shop on Facebook by clicking here. The shop is open on Saturdays from 3 until 7 PM or by appointment, and is located at via Cesare Battisti 60 in Modena, Italy.

All images are my own. You can see more images by clicking here; Click on image to see larger, more detailed version.

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/nautilus-antiques-modena-italy.html

"History And Cultural Representations Of Human Remains," Symposia Series, London and Paris, 2013

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I just learned of two wonderful looking symposiums taking place this year as part of a three-part series called "History And Cultural Representations Of Human Remains," organised by the CAS research centre (EA 801) in collaboration with the Toulouse Natural History Museum and in partnership with the Academy of Medicine (Paris), the Hunterian Museum (Museums and Archives, Royal College of Surgeons, London), the Center Alexandre Koyré and FRAMESPA (UMR 5136). The second one, entitled "Anatomical Models," will take place April 4 at the Academy of Medicine in Paris; the third one, entitled "Exhibiting Human Remains," will take place at London's Hunterian Museum on June 4th. They both look excellent! Sadly, we missed the first of the series, which took place in Toulouse on Feb. 4th and was called "Medical Museums and Anatomical Collections."

Full details on both remaining symposia follow; hope to see you at one or both!

Anatomical Models
Academy of Medicine - Paris
April 4, 2013

  • 9.00-9.15 : Welcome speech
  • 9.15-10.00 : Rafael Mandressi (CNRS, Centre Alexandre Koyré), Artificialisations du corps dans la première modernité européenne
  • 10.00-10.30 : Jack Hartnell (Courtauld Institute of Art, London), Anatomical Image as Anatomical Model: Evoking Skin and Surgery in a Tactile Anatomical Scroll
  • 10.30-11.00 : Marieke Hendriksen (University of Groningen), The Fabric of the Body: Textile in Anatomical Models and Preparations
  • 11.00-11.30 : Coffee break
  • 11.30-12.00 : Jean-Louis Fischer (CNRS), Les cires de foetus humains du Musée de la Specola : Une modélisation unique du dogme de la préexistence des germes
  • 12.00-12.30 : Margaret Carlyle (MacGill University, Canada), Manikins, Midwives, Medical Men: Obstetrical Hardware in the Paris Medical Marketplace, c. 1750-c.1789
  • 12.30-14.00 : Lunch Break 
  • 14.00-14.30 : Victoria Diehl (Spanish National Research Council), The Iconographic Catholic Legacy of Clemente Susini’s Anatomical Venus
  • 14.30-15.00 : Nike Fakiner (Spanish National Research Council), Impressions in wax: Alexander von Humboldt and Gustav Zeiller’s Anatomical Wax Models
  • 15.00-15.30 : Mechthild Fend (University College London), Contagious Contacts: The Dermatological Moulage as Indexical Image
  • 15.30-16.00 : Coffee break
  • 16.00-16.30 : Anna Maerker (King’s College London), Models and Performance in Leicester Square and the Strand, 1831-32
  • 16.30-17.00 : Birgit Nemec (University of Vienna, Department for the History of Medicine), Modelling the Human – Modelling Society. Anatomical Models in late 19th- and early 20th-Century Vienna and the Politics of Visual Cultures

Exhibiting Human Remains
Hunterian Museum - London
June 4, 2013

  • 10.00-10.45 : Sam Alberti (Hunterian Museum), Collecting the Dead
  • 10.45-11.15 : Nausica Zaballos (EHESS, Paris), Fear of death and body snatchers on the reservation: the corpse as a mediating figure between settlers and Navajo people
  • 11.15-11.45 : Coffee break 
  • 11.45- 12.15 : David Mazierski (University of Toronto), Vanitas Mundi: The Anatomical Legacy of Frederik Ruysch
  • 12.15-12.45 : Adrian Young (Princeton University, USA), Man Ape or Ape Man? Raymond Dart, the Taung Child, and the Rhetorics of Display at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition 12.45-14.00 : Lunch break
  • 14.00-14.30 : David Punter (University of Bristol), The Abhuman Remains of the Gothic
    14.30-15.00 : Laurence Talairach-Vielmas (University of Toulouse II-Le Mirail/Centre Alexandre Koyré), Bottled Specimens in Victorian Literature 
  • 15.00-15.30 : Peter M. McIsaac (German and Museum Studies, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, USA), More than Shock Value: Gestures of Exposure in Gottfried Benn’s Morgue Cycle
  • 15.30-16.00 : Coffee break
  • 16.00-16.30 : Fiona Pettit (University of Exeter), Monstrous Specimens: The Conflation of Medical and Popular Exhibitions of Rare Anatomies
  • 16.30-17.00 : Gemma Angel (University College London), Displaying the Self: The Tattoo from Living Body to Museum Collection

For registration and information: email talairac [at] univ-tlse2.fr and rafael.mandressi [at] damesme.cnrs.fr.

Special thanks to Mechthild Fend--who will participate in the April event--for letting me know about this!

Image: "Royal College of Surgeons, Court of Examiners," Henry Jamyn Brooks, 1894Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/history-and-cultural-representations-of.html

The Vampire Diaries Sneak Peek: You Can’t Hate Me

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In a sneak peek from next week' Vampire Diaries, Klaus tells Caroline she can't hate him.

Pretty sure she can and does at the moment, Nik. But we do sort of see your point too.

After the crushing letter Caroline received from Tyler at the end of "Bring It On" (see our latest Vampire Diaries review), the Original vampire is persona non grata as far as she's concerned.

When he shows up unannounced, the greeting he receives isn't exactly warm. When he explains that Tyler was trying to kill him and he did what he had to do, Caroline is still unmoved.

So what's he even doing there anyway? It turns out that Stefan invited him over, because of a much bigger problem all of them have on their hands - one they need Klaus' help with.

What do you think Stefan has in mind? Watch the clip and comment below ...

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/the-vampire-diaries-sneak-peek-you-cant-hate-me/

American Horror Story Season 3 To Be Titled…

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Prepare yourselves, TV Fanatics, for American Horror Story: Coven.

Ryan Murphy and company closed down PaleyFest 2013 last night with the reveal of the Season 3 title, along with other scoops and tidbits related to that drama's return to FX this fall.

Bates. Lange

Look for the series - which brings back Jessica Lange in the main role and will also feature Kathy Bates as her character's arch rival - to be set and filmed in modern day New Orleans.

"The fun thing is researching what are the really haunted places in America, and we have a couple doozy locales," Murphy said, adding that Bates will portray a "bad, bad woman."

Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson and Taissa Farmiga are also confirmed for Season 3, which will focus on "a lot of things," the creator teased - but will also keep coming back to its leads:

“I wanted to see a lot of scenes of Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates going at it, so that’s what you’re going to see.”

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/american-horror-story-season-3-to-be-titled/

Worst Cooks in America Exclusive: One-on-One with Alina Bolshakova

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Alina Bolshakova is alive and very well on Worst Cooks in America.

This Latvia native and Los Angeles resident is one of three Team Bobby members still competing for the title on The Food Network's Worst Cooks in America.

Worst Cooks in America Picture

A caretaker for the elderly, Alina was inspired to try out for the show in order to properly cook for her diabetic patient.

What has been the most challenging aspect of the competition so far?

"Butchering a chicken with the head still on," Alina tells our friends at Food Fanatic. "I actually never even took the head off. I just couldn't do it. I tried to raise that butcher knife to take the head off and...I just couldn't do it. I think I covered it with a kitchen towel and just kept going. It was not like going to the store, buying a real chicken all cut up with no trauma!"

Visit Food Fanatic now for more of this exclusive interview with Alina Bolshakova.

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/worst-cooks-in-america-exclusive-one-on-one-with-alina-bolshakov/

Blue Bloods Review: Karma’s Bucket List

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The truth is that no one leaves this world with "No Regrets" but Erin's friend Trevor was certainly trying to wipe out a few of his before he left. 

A Series of Random Acts

When the bodies started piling up around the city they appeared to be a case of random acts of violence. As Henry told the kids at Sunday family dinner in this Blue Bloods quote…

Henry: Nothing scares a cop more than a nut who keeps killing for no reason. | permalink

That's one of the great things about the Reagan family dinners. There are very few topics that are off limits.  Cases, politics, religion, it all comes up and is discussed and debated.  Thankfully even when the conversation turns to murder there's enough underlying humor to keep it from becoming completely maudlin as when Jamie and Erin tried their best to be supportive of Danny…

Jamie: It's not like you don't have any experience with crazy people
Erin: You grew up in a house full of them. | permalink

I had mixed feelings about Trevor's bucket list.  It's not that his victims hadn't slipped through the system but should he have had the final say on their fate?  

And I had to feel for Danny.  He's had lousy luck lately talking people down. Last week the guy failed to heed Danny's warnings and decided to go out in a hail of bullets.  This week Trevor decided to take his own life in front of Danny.  How many of those instances can Danny take before it starts to back up on him?

Jamie's case basically blew up in his face as he tried to do the right thing.  How scared must that little boy have been of his parents fighting to have run from his own home and out into the street?

But the mother's secret was bound to come out eventually.  How many plumbing issues can one apartment have?

Frank's friend was just a mess.  He lied to Frank. He walked out on his family. His ego and his alcoholism were ruining his life.  

Pete was darn lucky his ex-wife was even still willing to talk to him. Despite the way he left, she still seemed to care.  So did Frank, although he wanted more from his friend than a simple apology. He wanted to put Pete back on the right path.  Unfortunately it's up to Pete whether or not he takes it.

In the end there were no easy days for anyone in the Reagan family but I felt the worst for Danny as he had to give his sister the heartbreaking news about her friend.  Hopefully the Reagans have some good Karma coming their way soon.

 

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/blue-bloods-review-karmas-bucket-list/

Grimm Review: Code Breakers

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"Natural Born Wesen" was a return to procedural form for Grimm, but it also explored the scope of the Wesen world while doing so.

Munroe In the Middle

Monroe’s interactions with his fellow Wesen in the dive bar, and in general, is always an entertaining situation. The poor guy just seems to get along better with humans and the mild mannered Wesen (although he certainly knows how to protect himself) than with the more aggressive Wesen.

These interactions shed some light on Monroe’s own conflicting viewpoints, as he played with a Grimm as well as with Wesen tradition and culture. It’s an idea that isn’t always played around with on Grimm since Nick is usually the one with competing identities.

Nevertheless, Monroe’s continual support of Nick is truly admirable because the perks of being Nick’s sidekick and ally, at this point in time, is mostly one sided. He’s always putting his neck out for him – and while Nick definitely sparks Monroe’s morality and courageousness that just wasn’t there for his reformation – and I’m hoping Monroe begins to have a better give and take with Nick since it feels like Nick is taking him for granted.

One of the best aspects of tonight was how far the boundaries of the Wesen world stretched. In other words, since Renard and Nick’s tentative truce, more of the inner workings of the Wesen world are coming to light. And it’s surprising how much clout Rosalee herself has in this world.

One of Grimm’s greatest storytelling abilities is having the advantage of literally showing what is directly underneath the surface of its characters, using it to quickly give the audience a characterization; this technique has been used with Rosalee, but she’s continually breaking out of her meek shell now. This might be due to Nick, like Monroe, but some of it is due to her taking up her family’s business and finding her place in the Wesen world.

She clued DeGroot in on what was happening, and, naturally, Renard sent the pictures of the code breakers so DeGroot knew exactly how to take care of the situation. Renard seems to have his fingers in just about every pie.

Juliette was a little more tolerable here, probably because she was mostly alone dealing with her own issues. Issues, I must say, are a very welcome change of pace. She’s literally trying to traverse her own forgotten memories with Nick. Deep down, Juliette knows what Nick told her in the trailer, and this limbo of no memories and unexplainable feelings for Renard might have been the perfect escape from something that scared her. If she can overcome that fear, then her memories and love for Nick might coming rushing back.

A Few More Other Thoughts:

  • Apartment 214
  • Nick killed Adalind’s Hexenbiest self with some of his blood, why didn’t Renard’s half-Hexenbiest self go floating away too?
  • Thank goodness for Hank’s nutshell recap, things were a little hazy after the ridiculously long break.
  • Nick has the good sense to not put things in drawers that can be opened by anyone, but is hanging the key around his neck a better place?

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/grimm-review-code-breakers/

Jim’s Notebook: Dallas, Southland, The Americans and More!

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If you didn’t hear the news already, I’m now the West Coast Editor of TV Fanatic and I’m so excited to be making a home here with my fellow television lovers.

Always feel free to leave a comment here or email me directly (jim@jimhalterman.com) if there are shows or stars you want to see more of. 

This week, my Notebook is jam-packed with behind-the-scenes scoop on your favorite dramas, such as the special opening titles for Monday's Dallas episode, real-life injuries on the Southland set, Matthew Rhys on the action/emotional challenges on The Americans and then love being in the air over at So You Think You Can Dance...

Jim's Notebook

DALLAS We knew the “JR’s Masterpiece” would be a good one... but how about those somber opening credits? How’d that come about? Cynthia Cidre, the executive producer who wrote the episode, said it was fellow EP Michael Robin’s doing: “We watched the teaser and it was very powerful at the morgue and everybody’s face and then the usual main title came on when we were watching the episode and it was wrong and [Robin] immediately was like ‘no, no, this is too bright and happy and we need something else.’"

Robin said he went to the show’s composer, Rob Cairns, with a big request: “’Okay, this is too major and we need something minor. We need something somber and fitting. Not super sad, but just sort of a remembrance.’ And [Cairns] got it and two hours later he sent that track back.”

If you missed the episode, it’s a perfect one to dive back in. You can watch it at TNT’s Dallas website. 

SOUTHLAND One of the best moments of this week’s “Off Duty” took place when Dewey (C. Thomas Howell) and Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) chased a perp and we came upon Dewey slumped to the ground, with no idea what happened to him for a quick but scary moment.

Said Regina King, who directed the hour: “That scene with Tommy, he was supposed to have that heart attack on camera but when we were doing the chase scene, [Howell] actually tweaked his ankle and couldn’t walk. We hadn’t finished the chase scene so I just went into crisis management mode and started looking at the extras and found one who looked like Tommy from the back and hair and makeup made sure he had salt & pepper [hair], put him in a cop suit and filmed him running. Then I decided to just change it so we don’t know what happened, which actually everybody said turned out better. It made it more mystical.”

Mystical indeed! I’ll have more scoop from my set visit to hype next Wednesday’s episode so keep an eye out for that.

John Ross Mourns J.R.Cooper's Former Boot

THE AMERICANS Who knew great actors like Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell could kick some serious ass on their hit FX series?!?? I asked Rhys earlier in the week which is tougher: the emotional or the physical parts of the role?

“I actually have a magnificent stunt double,” the Welsh actor said. “I just wish he could do the same with the emotional stuff. The draw of the part was always the emotional stuff; that sort of incredibly complex relationship you find them at.  Sort of steering that emotional voyage has been for want of a better pretentious cliché, has been this sort of hard element to it all.”

And while he also said the action scenes are a welcome break from the emotional stuff, will Rhys’s Phillip and Russell’s Elizabeth get their relationship in order by the end of The Americans Season 1?

“I don’t think the resolution is quite possible given what they’ve been through and the amount of back and forth, you know the chess game they play with each other where revelation after revelation has come out and the amount of betrayal involved. I don’t think will be resolved overnight and I think that’s sort of the glorious element to it, is that it can’t be a quick fix relationship. There has to be some sort of long road of recovery for it to have any longevity."

SYTYCD You probably know Stephen “tWitch” Boss from his phenomenal dance moves on the Emmy-winning Fox reality series (which will be back for Season 10 in May) or from the big screen in Step Up Revolution - but did you know he’s engaged to fellow SYTYCD-er Allison Holker?

I asked the charismatic tWitch when love actually struck between the two and he told me it took some time: “It was right after the first All-Star Season, which was season 7. All throughout the season we did not speak to each other at all. I always thought she was so beautiful, I’d admired her since Season 2…but at the wrap party of season 7 we literally had a dance and we have been dating ever since and now we’re engaged.”

FYI, if you think you have what it takes to dance with tWitch, Allison and all the other fine dancers on the show, auditions for the new season are making one more stop – Los Angeles on Friday, March 22nd. More details at the SYTYCD website.

That’s a wrap for this week! Anything else you’re dying to know about your favorite show? Leave a comment here or you email me directly at jim@jimhalterman.com. And remember: follow @TVFanatic for all your TV scoop!

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/jims-notebook-dallas-southland-the-americans-and-more/

The Vampire Diaries Round Table: "Bring It On"

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The Vampire Diaries returned in a big way with "Bring It On," giving us so much to discuss.

So let's get to it. In our weekly TV Fanatic Round Table, staffers Steve Marsi, Miranda Wicker and Leigh Raines break down the new Elena, Klaus and Hailey, Matt's windfall and much, much more!

Read our answers to the following questions and comment with your own below!

----------------------------------

1. What was your favorite quote or scene from the episode?

Leigh: Damon telling Rebekah to stop looking for the cure. Because he's right and because I'm so over that storyline!!!! "Life sucks when you’re ordinary. And what makes you exactly not like them? You’re a vampire. You take that cure and become human? You’re no one, nothing. Trust me, losing that cure was the best damn thing that ever happened to you." Also Elena's party rocked and I wanted to be there.

Miranda: Because there's something hilarious to me every time we see one of Klaus' horse drawings, I'll go with Hayley critiquing his art. I've been kind of meh about Hayley, but this week with her cutting down Klaus? Loved her.

Steve: "You're whole life revolves around me." 81-episodes-in-the-making BURN!

Vampire Diaries Round Table logo

2. Do you like the new Elena?

Leigh: Um, I don't like new Elena, I LOVE her. For three and a half seasons it's been whiny, victimy Elena. All this bad stuff kept happening to her and it sucked. She also couldn't breathe without a Salvatore bodyguard. She's fun as hell now, I'd hang out with her. As long as I'm not the next Caroline...

Miranda: YES! What's not to love, really? Aside from that whole trying to kill her best friend thing, I mean.

Steve: One thing I do NOT like is the seemingly arbitrary nature of the vampire-vampire sire bond, or how one's humanity can simply be flipped on and off. That said, I could not take my eyes off Nina Dobrev tonight, and not just because she got naked a lot. It was compelling (pun sort of intended) to watch this unpredictable and wild side of her character.

3. Klaus and Hayley: Hot or not (or really, really hot)?

Leigh: Really, really hot. Klaus is so angry all the time, he really needed that tension release, ya know? Phoebe Tonkin is also a hottie. I approve. Two thumbs up.

Miranda: Really, really, really hot. Really. JoMo. The tattoos. I vote we just let him be shirtless from now on.

Steve: Holy hotness. Words fail me so I've just posted the scene below instead. If the goal of this episode was to set these two up for the spinoff and make us excited for it, well played Julie Plec.

4. Elena vs. Caroline for the UFC title, best 2-of-3: Who wins?

Leigh: Caroline may be older and technically stronger but Elena had a strong point when she said that she was trained by Alaric, a.k.a. by the best. Anything paired with Alaric pretty much wins in my book.

Miranda: I'll pull for the underdog and go with Caroline. Elena seems like the cocky ripper douche type, so she'd get overconfident and Caroline would sneak in for the win.

Steve: Elena, 2-1. Caroline is capable of better than we saw last night, but New Elena's ruthless. Unless Care-Bear also finds the off switch, it'd be an uphill battle for her.

5. Favorite unlikely dynamic duo: Klaus/Hayley, Damon/Rebekah, or Stefan/Caroline?

Leigh: Stefan and Caroline are besties at this point so I don't consider them that unlikely. Damon and Rebekah are fairly similar people so same goes for them. I guess by default and recent hotness factor, it's Klaus/Hayley for the win.

Miranda: Damon and Rebekah. No question. Because they're really the only duo on the list who are unlikely.

Steve: Going with Stefan and Caroline, just because I can't quite put my finger on what the writers have in mind for these two. Beyond mutual concern for Elena, how deep is the connection?

6. Is Tyler really gone for good?

Leigh: Yes. And Matt just went from really poor orphan to really rich orphan. I'll miss you Michael Trevino... and your abs.

Miranda: No. Now that Klaus has revealed his master plan of just letting Tyler think he's in danger of dying, once Klaus sails off to the New Orleans sunset, Tyler can come home to Mystic Falls.

Steve: For the immediate future it looks like it, but he clearly yearns for Caroline and I can't imagine there won't be a scenario where they reunite at some point. Just not for a few episodes at least.

7. What is Silas the Blood Bag Bandit's next move?

Leigh: I feel like he's hidden somewhere with Bonnie right now keeping her brainwashed while inhabiting the body of Shane. They are cooking up something creepy and supernatural, no doubt about it! He's probably also trying to find Katherine, because isn't everyone always chasing that bitch for something?

Miranda: Please let it be resurrecting Jeremy so we can see his arms again! But really, finding Katherine. Because everyone always wants to find Katherine.

Steve: Sipping on Blood-tinis with Bon-Bon and working on the massacre that will complete the trifecta. Or getting back in the car to find a new hospital to raid. Six? In one week? Thirsty fool.

8. If Matt just inherited the deed to the biggest house in Mystic Falls, does that mean he can stop working at the Grill?

Leigh: Well unfortunately Tyler didn't wire any money over or leave him a secret account, but I'd be willing to be there's heaps of money hidden in secret places around Lockwood Manor.

Miranda: Unfortunately, no. He may have the house, but now he has to pay for all that upkeep. Poor, poor Matt. Maybe one day he'll make it to manager.

Steve: Unless Leigh is right, the property taxes on that place alone are probably more than his annual Grill earnings. I'd keep those double shifts for the time being if I were Matty.

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/the-vampire-diaries-round-table-bring-it-on/

Nikita Review: Because You Say It Is?

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"The Life We've Chosen" were appropriately Ari's last words and summed up the episode well. Though, it could just as easily have been titled for what Alex said, "Because you say it is?" The mission to get Alex back was full of difficult choices and conflict, which likely will stick with the team members.

In the new Division, the management structure is complicated with Ryan running the joint, but both Nikita and Michael are in leadership roles too. Alex's question could have been poised by and to several members of the team throughout the hour. While this new organization is supposed to be better, one area that it lacks is in command and obedience. Perhaps, the lack of blind obedience is a good thing though.

Amanda Is Shocked

Ryan and Nikita often have discussed how they want to do things differently and better this time, but Ryan failed horribly when he decided to put a kill chip in Ari's head. His decision to keep that from everyone but Owen proved that it was wrong. If it was the right thing to do, he would have let the mission team leader and his supposed partner in running Division in on his plan. His arrogance that he knew best jeopardized Nikita and the team. 

First, the kill chip interfered with the mission communications. At least Birkoff was able to overcome this nuisance and it didn't cause any major problems. Second, Nikita figured it out on her own and that caused a conflict that nearly killed them all. The team wasn't at the ready for the ambush and didn't hear Sean warn them while arguing. Both were problematic. 

Even though Ari had the kill chip in his head, he acted to save the whole team and mission. He claimed it was because he didn't want Amanda to win, but I think Nikita standing up for him mattered. They may have been at odds over the years, but he saw Nikita was honorable and willing to risk herself and the team to try and save him.

While the rescue mission was underway, Alex didn't waste any time in trying to escape. She used the medic to distract the guards and they made a run for it. Alex and Nikita aren't that different. They both have a solid moral code and desire to help others. During the escape, the medic was shot protecting Alex. That only heightened the sense of responsibility Alex felt for her.

During Amanda and Nikita's reunion, Amanda warned Nikita that Alex would turn on her. Now, that Alex was under Amanda's control, she took advantage of the opportunity to plant doubts into the young spy's head. Amanda's psychological warfare is how she is able to hurt people the most. And, it may be how she is able to cause Nikita the most pain.

After the Alex and Ari exchange, I was disappointed in what happened next. It came across as too contrived and easy. Alex isn't simpleminded such that she would fall for Amanda's mind games like that. Plus, with Sean there, he should have stopped Alex rather than let down the team. Time was a crucial consideration though and Nikita and Alex took off separately before a real conversation ever took place. 

The decision to split up caused both teams to fail in their mission. Ari escaped from Amanda with the black box only to be shot in the back before Nikita could cover him. If the full team had been there, Ari would have lived. And, Alex was not able to fend off the soldiers greater force to save the medic. The only victory was that all the Division assets came back alive and with the black box.

That victory was all that Ryan saw when he complimented Nikita and Alex on a job well done. He didn't take time to notice the fractures that his decisions and the mission caused within the team. Michael and Nikita had it out over the kill switch. And, the current relationship between Nikita and Alex is unknown.

I worry for what will happen to Alex next. She doesn't trust Nikita right now and Sean is in the perfect situation to push the two women even further apart. It would be a shame if Amanda's words get inside Alex's head and then if that is compounded with Sean's negativity surrounding Nikita and Division. Will Sean use this situation to isolate Alex, so he can have her all to himself? 

I hope that my worries are unfounded and that Alex will recognize Amanda's manipulation and work things out with Nikita. When it comes down to it, someone has to be the team leader and if the leader's directions aren't followed lives are lost. That was shown both through disobeying Ryan regarding the kill chip and then when the four person team split up. Though, there is a key distinction between the two situations.

Nikita was kept out of the loop on the kill chip, which was an even bigger mistake. Out in the field, trust is probably the most important thing. Ryan betrayed not only Nikita's trust, but the vision they set for the new Division. 

Will the Division team be able to overcome the fractures that developed through this mission? Or, will the fractures become full breaks? I really hope it's the former because it would be too much to handle otherwise.

Odds and Ends

  • Finally, Amanda fixed her horrid hair. It looked so gorgeous in this episode.
  • It's a slippery slope and Ryan has slid down it. Will Ryan learn from his mistake? Or, will the kill chip be just one more step to him becoming Percy II?
  • Glad to see that Owen's conversation with Alex in the car wasn't entirely forgotten. Sean doesn't like Owen, but that's okay. Their tension is fun to watch.
  • Ari: If you die, Amanda wins and to quote your eloquence, "Screw Amanda." | permalink
  • Ari was a foe for so long that is was a shock to me that I teared up when he died. He didn't make up for all his wrongs, but it was an honorable death. And, he did get the black box.
  • Ryan: Activating that kill chip is the only smart course of action.
    Nikita: I can't do that. We don't make that choice. We aren't that kind of Division. | permalink
  • Birkhoff: Scan's all clear. No hidden bombs or gas pouches. I guess Amanda knew better than to turn you into a party pinata. | permalink
  • While Amanda didn't plant anything physical in Alex, she definitely planted doubt about Nikita.

Source:
http://www.tvfanatic.com/2013/03/nikita-review-the-life-weve-chosen/

From 18th Century Private Natural History Cabinet to Early Museum: The Spallanzani Museum, Reggio Emilia, Italy; Guest Post by Alessandro Molinengo, Nautilus Shop, Modena

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Friend Alessandro Molinengo, co-proprietor of the Modena's amazing Nautilus Antiques, brought Evan Michelson and I one rainy night to visit to Spallanzani Museum in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The origins of this museum stem from a "small collection of natural products" opened by priest, biologist and physiologist Lazzaro Spallanzani in his home in 1770; today, the collection--some still in their original cases!--is located in the Civic Museum of Reggio Emilia.

I asked Alessandro to write a guest post telling the readers of Morbid Anatomy more about this astounding collection, which had Evan and I literally gasping aloud as we turned each corner; All images are my own; you can see many many more by clicking here or here:

Lazzaro Spallanzani (10 January 1729 – 12 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest, biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily functions, animal reproduction, and essentially animal echolocation. His research of biogenesis paved the way for the investigations of Louis Pasteur. 
Since 1771 he had managed to create a Museum of Natural History in Pavia, which over the years acquired a great reputation, even internationally, and was even visited by the Emperor Joseph II of Austria. 
In 1785, while on a trip to Constantinople and the Balkans, he was accused by the custodian of the Museum of Pavia (instigated by some colleagues) of stealing artifacts from the museum: the story ended after one year with the demonstration of the complete innocence of Spallanzani and punishment of slanderers. 
His indefatigable exertions as a traveler, his skill and good fortune as a collector, his brilliance as a teacher and expositor, and his keenness as a conversationalist no doubt aided largely in accounting for Spallanzani's exceptional fame among his contemporaries; his letters account for his close relationships with many famed scholars and philosophers, like Buffon, Lavoisier, and Voltaire. 
His life was one of incessant eager questioning of nature on all sides, and his many and varied works all bear the stamp of a fresh and original genius, capable of stating and solving problems in all departments of science. 
He died from bladder cancer on 12 February 1799, in Pavia. After his death, his bladder was removed for study by his colleagues, after which it was placed on public display in a museum in Pavia, where it remains to this day. 
Since 1770, Lazzaro Spallanzani set up in the rooms of his home in Scandiano a "small collection of natural products,"which today is located in the Civic Museums of Reggio Emilia. 
It’s a rare and precious document in the history of collecting naturalistic ranked according to scientific knowledge at the end of the eighteenth century. It includes zoological, with particular reference to marine life, paleontological, mineralogical, lithological and botanical gardens, as well as decorative objects, such as pictures, tables and ornaments, testifying, in its diversity, the variety of interests of the scientist. The materials are the result of purchases, exchanges and collections made during the many trips Spallanzani during the summer months, to conduct scientific experiments, and to procure materials for
the Museum of Natural History of the University of Pavia.
Purchased by the Municipality of Reggio Emilia in 1799, at the death of scientist, collection has been preserved in its original consistency, finding final location in the Palazzo of St. Francis from the 1830. The current layout of the exhibition is related to the reorganization of collections in 1883 by Alfredo Jona, displayed in several cabinets, some of which are original furnishings of the Spallanzani’s house, following the Linnaean system in use in the late eighteenth century.
You can find out more about the by the Spallanzani Museum of Reggio Emilia by clicking here. All images are my own (click on image to see larger versions); you can see many more by clicking here or here. You can find out more about the Nautilus Shop by clicking here, and can "like" the shop on Facebook by clicking here. The shop is open on Saturdays from 3 until 7 PM or by appointment, and is located at via Cesare Battisti 60 in Modena, Italy.

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/from-18th-century-private-natural.html

Craig Kiefer – Unconventional Artwork for a Conservative Genre

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Craig Kiefer Veteran Pain

Craig Kiefer Asthma

Craig Kiefer Locked In

Craig Kiefer Respiratory Pathways

Craig Kiefer Respiratory Pathways

I had the lovely chance of meeting medical illustrator, Craig Kiefer yesterday at a gallery opening at Design Cloud Chicago. I could immediately see Craig’s energy and passion for his work. He is a fellow alum of the University of Illinois Biomedical Visualization graduate program and runs his own biovisualization studio with Kimberely Martens.

Craig’s work takes an artistic and editorial approach to anatomy using painting combined with digital techniques. He’s able to bridge art with the technical execution of a medical illustrator which is so refreshing to see.

View more of Craig’s work including his awesome Relationship With Nature series at behance.net/craigkiefer!

 

 

 

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/streetanatomy/OQuC/~3/nSdaV_2qMso/

On the Curious Fate of the Body of Lord Byron: Guest post by Bess Lovejoy, Friend and Authoress of "Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses"

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I am incredibly proud of longtime friend and kindred spirit Bess Lovejoy, who, after years of toil, has just published her wonderful book Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses.

Per my request, Bess has kindly adapted the following excerpt for this blog from one of my favorite entries in the book, on the body of Romantic poet Lord Byron. You can find out more about Bess and the book here, and order a copy of your own by clicking here. Also, if you plan to be in or around Brooklyn on April 26, please join us for a special book party/lecture with Ms. Lovejoy at Observatory; Copies of her books will, of course, be available for sale and signing. More on that here.

And now, Ms. Lovejoy on the Curious Fate of the Body of Lord Bryon:

Lord Byron
Born: January 22, 1788 in Dover, England
Died: April 19, 1824 (age 36) in Missolonghi, Greece 

With his extravagant tastes in clothes, his sexual magnetism, and his devotion to the cult of himself, the poet Lord Byron was the first modern celebrity. He even got fan mail: women regularly wrote him letters offering praise and adoration, and sometimes even their own bodies. 

But eventually Byron went too far. After his brief marriage failed miserably, he left Britain in 1816 amidst rumors that he had forced his wife to perform “unnatural acts” and carried on an incestuous affair with his half-sister Augusta. In retreat, he traveled to Switzerland, where he participated in the house party that inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein, and then to Italy, where he sailed with Percy Shelley and bedded Mary’s half-sister Claire. His next adventure was in Greece, where in 1823 he joined that country’s fight for independence from the Ottoman Empire. Byron tried to bolster the disorganized Greek forces, but only a year after arriving, he was confined to his sickbed. The cause, at least according to many modern experts, was malaria contracted in the Greek marshlands. 

His doctors didn’t understand the cause of his illness, and had Byron been given quinine in time, he might have been saved. Instead he was fed castor oil and antimony, and bled repeatedly despite his protests. “Have you no other remedy than bleeding?” he shouted at his physicians, as they pulled pints of blood from his temples and jugular. None of it did any good. Byron died just after six in the evening, as a thunderstorm was breaking over the city. Superstitious locals interpreted the wrath of the heavens as a sign that a great man had died. 

The city of Missolonghi, where Byron’s life ended, was plunged into despair. The morning after his death, 37 guns were fired from a nearby fortress, one for each year of his life. Black-bordered notices distributed throughout the city ordered Easter Week celebrations cancelled, and all non-essential shops and public offices closed. Meanwhile, Byron’s friends debated what to do with his body. 

Throughout his life, the poet had left conflicting wishes. At times he asked to be buried in England, while at other times he refused. In 1819 he’d written to his publisher: “I am sure my Bones would not rest in an English grave—or my Clay mix with the Earth of that Country … I would not even feed your worms—if I could help it.” The day before he died, he declared: “Let not my body be hacked, or be sent to England.” 

Both requests were denied. The doctors who “hacked” Byron’s body with an autopsy found a congested brain, a flabby heart, and a diseased liver. Before stitching him back up, the doctors removed his heart, brain, and other internal organs, placing them in four urns. A mistranslated funeral oration has led to a story that the heart stayed in Greece, but in fact the Greeks got a different set of organs: his lungs and larynx. Pietro Capsali, the man in whose house Byron died, said “we wished to have his lungs and larynx because he had used his breath and voice for Greece.” But the urn with Byron’s lungs disappeared when Missolonghi fell in a Turkish siege two years after the poet’s death.
The British establishment was considerably less reverent than the Greeks. One official said that Byron’s body should be burnt, a message conveyed back to London with multiple exclamation points. However, Byron’s friends decided that the most honorable thing to do was to send the poet back to England, regardless of his wishes. 

When London newspapers heard Byron’s body would be coming to England, they reported on plans for a burial in Westminster Abbey. But the Dean of Westminster, who still remembered the “unnatural acts” scandal of 1816, refused. He told one of Byron’s executors that the best thing to do was “to carry away the body, and say as little about it as possible.” In fact, it would not be until 1969 that church officials finally agreed to a memorial for Byron at Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey. 

Despite the establishment’s cold shoulder, the public still loved their poet. Sir Walter Scott said the news of his death “stunned” the nation, while to a young Tennyson the “whole world seemed to be in darkness.” When the Florida arrived in July 1824 carrying Byron's body (preserved with 180 gallons of spirits), spectators crowded the banks of the Thames.  

With no burial in Westminster Abbey forthcoming, Byron’s executors buried the poet at his family vault in Hucknall Torkard, Nottingham. Byron joined his father “Mad Jack” Byron, grandfather “Foulweather Jack” Byron, and dozens of other relatives with less colorful nicknames. Almost thirty years later, the vault was closed for good following the burial of Byron’s daughter Ada Lovelace.

That is, until it was reopened in 1938 by the local vicar. For that story, see: Rest in Pieces.

Image: Top Image: Painting of Lord Byron; bottom image: Byron and Ada Lovelace's coffin (the one with the coronet on it is hers.)Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-curious-fate-of-body-of-lord-bryon.html

The Head of Saint Catherine of Siena : Italy Trip Guest Post by Evan Michelson, TV’s "Oddities" and Morbid Anatomy Library

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One more guest post by Evan Michelson of "Oddities" and the Morbid Anatomy Library documenting our trip through Italy researching the history of the preservation and display of the human corpse.

Here, her response to our pilgrimage to see the incorruptible head of Saint Catherine of Siena, seen in my photo above:

Recently Joanna and I paid a visit to the remarkable relic of Saint Catherine of Siena, that city's patron saint. Her incorruptible, mummified head lies behind a screen above an altar in Siena's Basilica of San Domenico. Apparently it was smuggled out of Rome in a sack by her followers, who wished to have her worldly remains reside in the city where she was born. Dramatically lit, her head has weathered the centuries well.

Catherine is one of Italy's most important holy women, known for her vivid and voluminous correspondence with Popes, Kings and various heads of state. She was also a remarkably powerful woman in her time, having served as a political ambassador for Florence (a rarity in the 14th century).

She had taken a vow of celibacy at the age of seven and considered herself a true bride of Christ, having entered into a "mystical marriage" with Jesus while still a teenager. She also suffered from what sounds like anorexia or bulimia for much of her life - obsessively fasting and vomiting until she couldn't eat anything at all, and she died quite young. Catherine was both revered and thought to be something of a dangerous fanatic in her lifetime; believe or disbelieve, her life spent nursing plague victims, pursuing political peace, recording ecstatic visions and reading the minds of her fanatical followers makes for a compelling story.

You can read future posts by Evan both on this blog and on her Facebook page, which you will find by clicking here. The photograph is my own. Click on image to see larger version.Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-head-of-saint-catherine-of-siena.html

THIS SUNDAY: Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Class: Easter/Spring Equinox Edition

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We have just a few spots for Daisy Tainton's Spring-themed Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Class this Sunday!

Details follow; hope to see you there!

Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Class: Easter/Spring Equinox Edition
With Daisy Tainton, Former Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History
Date: Sunday, March 17th (Special Easter/Spring Edition!)
Time: 1 – 4 PM
Admission: $65
***Tickets MUST be pre-odered by clicking here
This class is part of The Morbid Anatomy Art Academy

For this special edition, vintage egg displays will be available along with regular wooden shadowboxes of various shapes and sizes. Want something? Bring it! My selection is random!

1:18 scale is best when shopping for miniatures.

BEETLES WILL BE PROVIDED. Each student receives one beetle approximately 2-3 inches tall when posed vertically.

Today, join former AMNH Senior Insect Preparator Daisy Tainton for a special Easter/Spring-themed edition of Observatory’s popular Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop. In this class, students will work with Rhinoceros beetles: nature’s tiny giants. Each student will learn to make–and leave with their own!–shadowbox dioramas featuring carefully positioned beetles doing nearly anything you can imagine. A collection of miscellaneous dollhouse toys will be provided to finish your diorama.

Daisy Tainton was formerly Senior Insect Preparator at the American Museum of Natural History, and has been working with insects professionally for several years. Eventually her fascination with insects and love of Japanese miniature food items naturally came together, resulting in cute and ridiculous museum-inspired yet utterly unrealistic dioramas. Beetles at the dentist? Beetles eating pie and knitting sweaters? Even beetles on the toilet? Why not?

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/this-sunday-anthropomorphic-insect.html

Museo di Anatomia Umana (Museum of Human Anatomy), Pisa: Italy Trip Guest Post by Evan Michelson, TV’s "Oddities" and Morbid Anatomy Library

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Below, the fourth guest post by Evan Michelson of "Oddities" and the Morbid Anatomy Library documenting our trip through Italy researching the history of the preservation and display of the human corpse. Here, her response to the small but wonderful Museo di Anatomia Umana (Museum of Human Anatomy) of Pisa:

The Museum of Human Anatomy at Pisa is located at the school of medicine and surgery, just a few steps away from the Piazza dei Miracoli which contains the overly-familiar Leaning Tower - a 12th century campanile gone wrong.

The museum collection has an interesting history: Pisa was host to the First Conference of Italian Scientists in 1839 - a somewhat radical gathering uniting scientists from several disciplines. According to our guide, this was a philosophically Positivist convocation that was determined to make sure that science would have an important role to play in a newly unifying Italy. Scientists from the Papal States were not in attendance. Much of the current museum collection was organized for that gathering.

There were several "petrified" preparations in the collection (petrification being an Italian specialty), a fine osteological display, and a nice array of wet preparations. Of particular interest were the full-size flayed human specimens, whose vessels were injected with chalk (an odd method, but confirmed by several sources).

The mummy of Gaetano Arrighi, a convict who died in the early 19th century, seemed to have particular pride of place. His body went unclaimed and he was prepared according to a 19th century Italian recipe, but the results appear quite ancient. I fell in love with a particularly vivid, gesticulating infant in a nearby case, but the mummy certainly did have hi
s charms.

You can find out more about the Museo di Anatomia Umana, Pisa (Museum of Human Anatomy at Pisa) by clicking here. You can read future posts by Evan both on this blog and on her Facebook page, which you will find by clicking here. All images are mine, from the museum.Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/museo-di-anatomia-umana-museum-of-human.html

Santuario delle Grazie (Shrine of Our Lady of Grace), Grazie, Italy : Guest Post by Alessandro Molinengo, Nautilus Shop, Modena

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A few days ago, Evan Michelson (third down) and I took the train to Modena (home of Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Balsamic Vinegar) to meet Alessandro Molinengo (top image), a long time internet friend and co-proprietor of the amazing Nautilus Antiques which we had both dreamt of visiting for some years.

After our visit to the shop, Alessandro--who is, it turns out, also an excellent tour guide--suggested we make a trip to check out an obscure church in the tiny town of Grazie, Italy which his business partner  Fausto Gazzi had suggested might interest us. None of us had been there before, so we hopped in the car and went.

This church--the Santuario delle Grazie (or Shrine of Our Lady of Grace)--was a real surprise and an utter, stunning delight, a museum of sorts enshrining arcane forms of worship, collecting, and ex voto usage. What interested Evan the most was the crocodile hanging high in the nave, a hold over from a time when churches would routinely display natural curiosities (see top two images). What interested me the most were the colorful and crudely fashioned statues which filled every available niche. Half of these depicted what appeared to be important church visitors of centuries past, while the other half felt more like a dime museum's house of horrors, peopled with a variety of stiffly posed martyrs meeting imaginatively gruesome ends. Equally fascinating were the thousands of wax anatomical (hands, eyes, breasts, and Bubonic Plague buboes!) ex votos snaking decoratively over every available surface (as seen in all images, but especially 4th down). This pilgrimage church, with its tinny piped-in liturgical music and wax torture museum ambiance, felt somewhere between a circus sideshow and religious Disneyland, less fine art than folk art full of ancient sacred expression in a language we could only barely understand. 

Evan and I had so many questions about this baffling and fascinating place that we asked Alessandro to write a guest post about the church and its history. Following is his post; you can find out more about Allesandro's truly amazing shop (more on that soon!) here (the website) and here (his Facebook page). Stay tuned for a full post on this almost painfully (as I have not much money) wonderful shop, what I would call the Obscura Antiques of Italy.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Grace is a church in Lombard Gothic style, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is located in the small village of Grazie, close to the town of Curtatone, 9 km from Mantua.

The origins of the church back to 1200, where, on a small promontory rising from the maze of flora and reeds, stood a small altar with the image of the Madonna and Child in which the fisherm
en of the lake and farmers were especially devoted. The devotion of the people of the area was old and well established; in that time the lake environment was indeed a source of livelihood but also hard work, starvation and disease, superstitions and fears, and this strength of faith was very comforting. Towards the end of the fourteenth century, by the grace received, Francesco Gonzaga built a temple to the Virgin Mary, after the end to an epidemic of The Plague. The construction cost 30,000 gold crowns and in August of 1406 the chapel was consecrated.

Soon after the completion of the basilica, pilgrimages to the church gradually assumed popularity, intensifying with the poor people of the surrounding countries, nobles, and even the Emperor Charles V and Pope Pius II who all came to visit the sacred image of Madonna and Child. So began a series of donations that brought even the original architectural features of the amendment, some important families valances they built chapels for prayer attached to the convent or in the church to bury their ancestors.

From 1412 until the end of the century a convent, school, chapel, and library were added. In 1782 the monastery was closed and converted into a hospital. Thus began the decline of the Basilica. The Napoleonic invasion deprived the collection of votive offerings and many of its treasures, and the material contained in its rich library was dispersed or destroyed, and in 1812 much of the architectural complex was finally dismantled.

The interior is Gothic single nave, and the ceiling is a vault decorated with frescoes of flowers. Upon entering, one is struck by the richness of the walls and its hangings because of a stuffed crocodile that was once located in the Shrine in the fifteenth or sixteenth century now hanging from the ceiling (top 2 images). The middle part of the walls of the nave is lined with full-length wooden structure, with eighty niches arranged in two parallel rows, where many mannequins in various poses and situations representing episodes of danger averted by divine intercession are placed. Today only about forty statues remain. There is no wall, column, corner unadorned; decorations consist of rows of wax anatomical ex votos covering the walls not occupied by statues, drawing snake motifs around columns or below the arches of the niches. You see here ex-votos representing hearts, hands, eyes, breasts, and pestilential buboes (from The Bubonic Plague), which combine to offer the viewer a unique puzzle.

The life-size mannequins you see all around you, as well as their clothing, armor, helmets and weapons were constructed of papier-mâché, and most of them are attributed to Friar Francis Acquanegra, who created in the early 16th century. The statues were constructed of layers of paper and cloth hardened with plaster and painted with colorings and with honey added as a binder; subsequently, several elements were added that were created by casts; also, in some cases, wood was used for face, hands and feet (depending on the pose taken by the manikin), horsehair for hair and acorns for some particulars. As for the clothes, it was discovered that these were created from cotton fabric with hooks applied to statues and date back to the late nineteenth century.

Twelve suits of armor have been reassembled from various statues. It is in fact defensive Gothic-Italian armor made in 1400 that covered completely the rider as they are made from different pieces of steel composed harmoniously ensuring effective protection. Examples of armor like this are extremely rare, if they can find in fact only eleven pieces all over the world, which is why today they are no longer exposed to the monastery but were transferred to the Diocesan Museum Francesco Gonzaga in Mantua. Various hypotheses have been made about the arrival of such prestigious reinforcements in the monastery; they were probably a gift of the Gonzaga family, lords of Mantua, unlike other more modest pieces (but still going back to 1500 ) from other sources.  Under the niches are the metopes explaining in vulgar Italian the grace received as depicted in the dioramic tableau above. Sometimes the mannequins do not coincide with the metope below, a sign that over the years have been the first few shifts. 

A real star of the sanctuary is a crocodile (Crocodilus niloticus) embalmed and hung from the ceiling in the center of the nave. It is a real crocodile, not a model, in its entirety, which was added to the church in the fifteenth or sixteenth century and has recently been the subject of restoration. This is not the only Italian church where you can find such a strange thing; the church of Santa Maria delle Virgin Macerata also has a crocodile hanging, probable gift from Macerata returned from the Crusades.

In ancient times they were seen with promiscuity figures of dragons, crocodiles or snakes and often, in the Christian era, were associated with evil, considered personifications of earthly hell, animals that lead to sin.

The placement of these animals in the churches thus has a strong symbolic meaning, as medieval churches also housed prehistoric fossils, therefore, the animal chained up in the vault of the church means to render it harmless, lock the evil he represents and at the same time expose a concrete reminder to the faithful against human susceptibility to error.

Related to the crocodile "of Grace" and its derivation were born many legends and theories; there are those who believe he was an escapee from the zoo of an exotic private house of Gonzaga; others believe his acquisition was of a more miraculous nature: two boatmen brothers were resting on the bank of the river when all of a sudden one of them was attacked by a crocodile. The other, asking for God's guidance, armed himself with a knife and was able to kill the predator.

It seems that the church in the past was literally covered with all types of weapons, flags and banners from the ceiling and hung dried boats, as well obviously the statues and "panels" in wax reproducing parts of the body that are still present.

Many of these objects are representative of an era, a way of life, habits of rural life of the place, and the social situation of the time. The ex votos depict hands and feet indicate miraculous healings likely to injuries while working in the fields (as also witnessed by the tools and the votive tablets found in other areas of the church), the eyes, the pestiferous boils of the plague, hearts, breasts to bring us to consider the importance of a mother to breastfeed at a time when there were no alternatives to maternal food.

An interesting note is the presence of the ball that allowed the promotion to Series A of the football team of Mantua in 1961. That’s was a real miracle!

You can find out more about the by the Santuario delle Grazie (Shrine of Our Lady of Grace) by clicking here. You can find out more about the Nautilus Shop by clicking here, and can "like" the shop on Facebook by clicking here. The shop is open on Saturdays from 3 until 7 PM or by appointment, and is located at via Cesare Battisti 60 in Modena, Italy

All images are my own, taken at the church. The text is, as indicated, written by the lovely Alessandro Molinengo.

Source:
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/santuario-delle-grazie-shrine-of-our.html