Von Hagens interests, excites, and educates us

Editor - Dora Vertess criticism of Gunther von Hagenss exhibition is harsh and unfounded.¹ While we are taught to have the utmost respect for the body, it is only natural that members of the general public have a fascination and want to see “inside themselves.” Why should this knowledge be reserved for medical students?

Vertes points out that the bodies are of people who had once loved, lived, and died. This is true, but my understanding is that they had decided to take part in this project while they were still living; they were not forced into it. I do not see a problem with freedom of choice about what happens to your body after death. People plan their funerals before their death; is this so different? Why should we accept that our bodies will be buried and decompose or be burned? The public who came to see the exhibition is no different from Vertes, and it is foolish to suggest that future doctors are able to show more respect.

Vertes notices that the bodies are modelled into poses reminding her of sculptures and paintings. Why is this so wrong? Leonardo da Vincis drawings of dissections are technically accurate and beautiful. Nobody would dream of ascribing words such as “disguised horror” to them. Von Hagens has painstakingly worked to produce the next generation of anatomical art, which rightly interests, excites, and educates us.

The exhibition challenges the viewer to consider the amazing adaptability and movement of the human body in life. What information could be provided to people by showing corpses lying still on their backs? No lines have been crossed, no mistakes have been made, and I look forward to visiting the exhibition after my finals this summer.

1. Vertes D. Körperwelten: the fascination of authenticity. studentBMJ 2002;10:168. (May.)