Theresa
Breslin
If you are easily grossed out – do not read on!
My grandfather kept hens – not just for the eggs but
also for the pot. I can’t recall actually watching him dispatching a favoured
fowl for dinner, but what I do know is that there was great competition among
the grandchildren for the ‘Claw.’ Grandad would chop off the hen’s leg and peel
back the skin to uncover the gleaming white tendons. He’d prise these loose and
tie lengths of fishing gut to them. Whoever’s turn it was to have the Claw had
enormous fun rushing about threatening siblings, cousins, neighbouring children
and a good few adults with the yellowed grizzly talons. Holding it in one hand
and manipulating the strings with the other was even more pleasurable,
especially if you could sneak up on someone unawares and stroke their cheek, or
grab a lump of hair. Creeping along the corridor to my older sisters’ bedroom
as they lay chatting at night, scratching on the panelling, then sliding the Claw
round the door edge and scrabbling at the light switch to switch it off, with accompanying
awful noises, resulted in very
satisfying screams. On one occasion my Claw was confiscated for overuse. My
parents ignored protests re the value of scientific research, thus crushing my
early interest in working models of anatomical function. I was broken-hearted.
Relenting a little, they arranged to have it preserved in a jar of
formaldehyde.
The games we played, eh? Modern electronic entertainment
like ‘Assassin’s Creed’ and ‘Minecraft’ which are said to be rotting kid’s
brains with mindless violence ain’t got nothing on a real, dead, blood-encrusted,
scaly-skinned, reptilian-look-alike Claw.
Health & Safety, my eye.
It may have been those childhood experiences, or, when
I was a bit older, seeing the Leonardo da Vinci’s fascinating red-tinted drawing
of a foetus in the womb, that made me develop a life long interest in the
subject. It can cause others to go off their food but I found that aspect of my
research into the life of Leonardo da Vinci for The Medici Seal fascinating. In Florence, right next to the Pitti Palace, is a
scientific museum - La Specola. Opened in
the 18th century it was unique in that it was intended for the
public to have access to see the exhibits. In the basement are cases of wax
bodies sliced open to show the internal organs. The works are by several wax
sculptors created over the centuries. Some have been treated in a method
believed to be similar to techniques used by Leonardo to map out the human
venous system.
Wanting to
write actual scenes of dissection I went to the University of Pavia where
Leonardo da Vinci worked with Marcantonio della Torre during 1510 and
1511.
The Spanish edition of The Medici Sea has a cover which reflects this aspect of the book.
Thirty sheets
of drawings made by Leonardo during his time in Pavia are on display now at the
Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh until 10th November 2013. What
adds an extra dimension to this exhibition are the computer simulations and
body scans using advanced technology. These reveal how accurate Leonardo was in
depicting what he observed, not just in the most beautiful and precise form,
but he also noted the correct function of the various parts.
If I can find it I could tender my preserved Claw for
loan as a hands-on working model, but I’ve got a feeling the Holyroodhouse Exhibition
Curator might just decline my offer
5 comments:
Great post, Theresa! It made me laugh.
My grandmother grew up in the western United States of pioneer stock. When she was a little girl, her older sister used to chase her around the house with a chicken's foot, too.
The old-fashioned version of Assassin's Creed, indeed!
Good to know there's someone out there who shared my disgusting childhood habits!
Lovely post which I missed yesterday! I will tweet it now!
In the science museum in London there used to be fab displays of old instruments for doctors and midwives, I remember being about 7 or 8 and allowed to roam the museum without my mum or dad watching over me (what harm can she come to! HA) and finding the 18th century and older birthing stools and other such strange items, early forceps and other tools now seen as potentially fatal.
The bowls for blood and other things, the saws for amputation, I had such a wonderful but ghoulish time, sadly in the modern sound bite age of walk through museum displays much of what I saw is not longer out and what is has almost tabloid style display. Mind you my local butcher decided I was too curious and took me through to his back table and with my mum watching on showed me how he skinned and gutted our dinner (which I couldn't then eat) of Rabbit caught locally!
Ah the good old, bad old days, wish I had a claw though :-)
Thanks Adèle. Hello Ruan - what a gorgeous name! Yeah, I agree, Lots of truly gruesome exhibits seem to have disappeared from Museums - probably due to Health & Safety restrictions. Love your story about the local butcher, I've a vision of him, with meat cleaver in hand!
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