Famous Bodies

Are you curious about the about picture? Trying to figure out what exactly you're looking at? Well, it's Galileo's finger. That's right. His FINGER.

Apparently, Galileo's body parts became collectors items 95 years after his death when the Catholic church moved his body to consecrated ground. Other body parts include vertebrae. Other pieces of Galileo exist, but Florence's History of Science Museum has only been able to conserve these two parts. The rest has been lost to collectors.

We talk about collecting artifacts but we rarely talk about whether or not it is ethical to collect bodies and even put them on display for the public. For example, you can meet Lenin face to face with Lenin in Moscow even though he has been dead since the 1920s. Moreover, these little pieces of Galileo will be put on display for the public.

What is it with this fascination to preserve and view the famous as if they are relics? Is it really necessary to view these bodies? What can we learn from Galileo's fingers? Or do museums display the bodies of the famously deceased in order to feed upon the general publics morbid fascinations?

Is it ethical to display bodies? I can understand that these famous people may be heroes, and I can understand cemetery pilgrimages, but call me old fashioned but I really wouldn't want to view a decomposed corpse. And is this in the name of cultural heritage? Does it contribute to any historical or archaeological advancements? Or is this a museums way of being a "Ripley's Believe it or not" without losing any credibility?

And if we are supposed to be discouraging looting? These body parts of Galileo were obviously looted and made their way through collectors. Does putting body parts on display at museums encourage looting of graves, especially of those who are famous?