Abstract

POZO, Alba del. Divine cadavers: gender, medical discourse, and anatomical collections in the legend of Pedro González de Velasco. Dynamis [online]. 2016, vol.36, n.1, pp.73-92. ISSN 2340-7948.

This paper examines the relationship between the public image of Pedro González de Velasco (1815-1882), famous for his anatomical collections and his Anthropological Museum, founded in 1875 in Madrid, and the popular legend related to the death, embalming and exhumation of his daughter Concepción. The doctor who is committed to the nation becomes a mad scientist, and his official biography is transformed into an urban legend. Beyond the merely anecdotal, I show how the aesthetics associated with female corpses and artificial women organize cultural imaginaries, bringing together medical discourses and literary and artistic representations.

Keywords : Pedro González de Velasco; gender; medical discourse; fin de siècle; cultural imaginaries.

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