GUTHER VON HAGEN

Gaspar Becerra ca. 1520 - 1570
A flayed man holding his own skin
1556
Etching and engraving
216 X 151 mm

Reclining Pregnant Woman

Body Worlds (German title: Körperwelten) is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. The exhibition's developer and promoter is a German anatomist named Gunther von Hagens, who invented the plastination technique in the late 1970s. The exhibition, first presented in Tokyo in 1995, has been shown in many cities in Europe and Asia. A second exhibition, along similar lines but with different exhibits, called Body Worlds 2 opened in 2005. A third exhibition, Body Worlds 3, opened on February 25, 2006, at The Houston Museum of Natural Science. More than 20 million people have seen one of the Body Worlds exhibits, which together have taken in $200 million.[1]
The exhibit states that its purpose and mission is the education of laymen about the human body, leading to better health awareness. All of the human plastinates are willing donors.[2] The original Body Worlds exhibit consisted of about 25 full body plastinates with expanded or selective organs shown in positions that enhanced the role of certain systems. Cased in glass amid the upright bodies are more than 200 specimens showing an array of real human bodies, organs, and organ systems, some having various medical conditions. For example, there are bodies with prosthetics such as artificial hip joints or heart valves; a liver with cirrhosis; and the lungs of a smoker and non-smoker placed side by side.
A curtained-off prenatal wing features a pregnant woman who died eight months into pregnancy; her unborn fetus died shortly thereafter. She is shown reclining and a large flap exposes her insides, with the nearly fully formed baby pushing aside her internal organs fully visible. This section also usually contains unborn fetuses and embryos, some with congenital disorders.
The last exhibit hall features a rearing horse and rider. All exhibits are accompanied with detailed descriptions, and audio guides are available with the option of beginner or advanced, for laymen or medical professionals respectively.
The exhibits were featured in a supposed Miami exhibition in the 2006 film Casino Royale, although the actual location for the exterior shots was the Ministry of Transport in Prague.

The pregnant woman
One of the more controversial exhibits is a woman who is 8-months pregnant, lying on her side with her arm propping her upper body up (reclining). The bottom of her torso is cut away to reveal a curled fetus inside. A nearby sign states that this woman decided to donate her body and the fetus when she was informed that she had a terminal disease.

The shows have been surrounded by controversy for a number of reasons. Von Hagens prepared some "artistic" exhibits, such as a man carrying his own skin (based on a 16th century drawing by Gaspar Becerra); a man on horseback holding his brain in one hand, the horse's brain in the other; and a man kneeling in prayer, holding his heart in his hands. These exhibits are seen by some as denigrating the deceased. Some religious groups object to any public exhibition of human corpses. Others accuse von Hagens of sensationalism.