Artie Butterworth has Mata Hari’s head on display in her library. What do you think about this? What do you believe should be done with such an item?
I think it was very strange and horrible and disrespectful! It should be taken away.
I think it was pretty gross and freaky. I agree, Paula - take it away!
I understand this is better to believe as “a half truth.” I understand after her execution, her body was never claimed by her family so it went to a Paris museum where they preserved her head in wax. It was reported stolen around 2000 when the museum was being moved to another location. First of all its a rather strange method of preserving one’s body parts. In the case of Artie, she was supposedly harboring stolen goods and it should have not gone without further investigation by the local police. As a reader, however I believe the author put it into her storyline to make her readers curious as to the validity of this statement.
Dang strange artifact to display! “Normal” people would not have human remains showcased. I agree with Carol that perhaps the author added this detail as a suggestion, “believe it or not!”
I actually Googled this. It turns out that after Mata Hari was executed, her body was sent to the Museaum of Anatomy in Paris. There, she was dissected, and her severed head was preserved. During an inventory in 2000, it could not be found, and they believe it went missing as early as 1956.
So why would any museum, even of anatomy, sever her head? Makes me think they had an offer $$$ they couldn’t refuse.
Weird thing to have, I’m sure it was displayed for the shock value. It doesn’t seem to be the type of “art” that should be on display. Vulgar and disrespectful to the viewers, let alone Mata Hari!
I would hope that in today’s world we would give more respect to anyone’s body in death. That said, this was a different time when Mata Hari died and there was an interest in knowing “why” someone did what they did. This meant looking at their brain. UGH.
I think the author did include this for shock value and to set the stage to tell us about Artie.
Thanks for looking this up. I was curious too. I do remember reading about other famous people that scientists wanted to study their brains. So glad this is no longer a practice.
It was disrespectful and awful. It is no way to honor the dead. Plus, who’d want a head in their library? Gross. Bury it.
I did this, too, Kim! I also googled Wallis Simpson’s lobster dress and found a picture of it. I appreciate that Rushby put historical tidbits into the storyline. Including Mata Hari’s head and the lobster dress helped to show the eccentricity of Butterworth and Audra.
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Oh my gosh, @Kathy_D, wasn’t that dress something else!
It certainly was! I was so excited to actually find a picture of it. I could see why it was a shocking design for that time period. And I always admire women who live their lives with a “who cares what others think” attitude.
A post was merged into an existing topic: Overall, what did you think of All Her Beautiful Deaths? (No spoilers in this topic, please!)
I find it very disturbing. When I was a sophomore in college, my biology class has a preserved human head dissected in half to view the brain. I can remember thinking how awful for him to be viewed like this in a classroom. I realize he probably donated his body to science, but I still didn’t agree.
I think it’s disrespectful to display human remains for attention/shock value. If it were to learn from in a scientific way it’s still a bit horrifying to me but as shocking decor it’s inexcusable. If it isn’t being used for science laid to rest in a traditional way—buried or cremated and stored somewhere less vulgar for people to pay respects