The Remains Of The Day: Rembrandt’s 1632 oil painting The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr. Nicholaes Tulp, Dr. Gunther von Hagens and his plastinate titled Rearing Horse And Rider, and (below and previous) photos taken with special permission at the Body Worlds Story of the Heart exhibit in Toronto, 2009.
serves as his inspiration, The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. Sadly, von Hagens will pass into history him-
self sooner rather than later, as he officially an- nounced this past January that he has been suffering through the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. “I can no longer hide the symptoms,” he
admits. “My hands tremble, my language is vague, my movements are uncoordinated. Again and again, I stumble around like a child. Parkinson’s has definitely changed my life since I was diagnosed two years ago. I have begun to take leave of skills I once had, knowing that they will never come back. I have struggled daily with the disabilities, the disease relentlessly pushed into conscious- ness.” Since being diagnosed, von Hagens allows
himself to relax more – even take vacations, such as a recent expedition across the Antarctic. He is also exploring the more aesthetic side of his practice, which seems to have resulted in a change of heart regarding plastination’s artistic possibilities. “I still have plans!” he insists. “I want to spend my remaining productive years developing a digital anatomical atlas, a contemporary version of
Renaissance anatomist, Vesalius Fabrica. I would also like to create a new body of work reconciling human anatomy and art that I’m calling ‘aesthetic anatomy’ for exhibitions destined for art museums.” Reflecting upon his own mortality, the
scientist says he will be proud to join the army of 12,500 volunteers who have willed their bodies to be plastinated since he began the donation program back in 1983. “This is so important to me because I
want to set a good example,” he says, with a palpable sense of enthusiasm. “Donating my body for plastination gives my death a kind of consolidating aspect since, as a plastinate, I will be able to continue what I have done all my profes- sional life: to teach anatomy.” He adds that, chances are, his wife An- gelina Whalley, who is the curator of all
the Body Worlds shows, will be the one to plastinate him, after which he will be displayed in a welcoming gesture at one of the exhibition’s en- trances. “In that way,” he says, “I can greet our visitors with a pre-recorded welcome message for all times to come.”
Photo provided by Body Worlds.
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