ABSTRACT
In the second half of the nineteenth century, anatomical collections were moved to laboratories, where they were used in new research and teaching practices. This chapter shows how, at Leiden University, a consequence of this move was that the university administrators could no longer use the collections as a status symbol. The chapter first explains how in the early nineteenth century, the preparations’ past became crucial for using them as a status symbol. This relates to national politics, in particular to the 1815 Royal Decree on Higher Education. The chapter shows how the decree damaged the reputation of Leiden’s anatomical collections and threatened the university’s status. To deal with this threat, the university administrators not only extended the collections, but also used the collections’ past to position themselves above the other Dutch universities. But the preparations were disconnected from this past when the collections were moved to a new location, a laboratory complex, where they were placed in a new arrangement. Thus, the administrators lost their status symbol. To conclude, the chapter discusses how in the twentieth century, some of the preparations were reconnected to their past, although most have had to bid a final adieu to their makers.
