ABSTRACT
Wellcome's collection is used as a case study to examine the modern reception of ancient votive genitalia. Where collection histories of Roman and Etruscan votive genitalia in modern times exist they have tended to focus on their censorship and suppression, in particular their appearance within the so-called 'secret cabinets' of European museums. Votive genitalia have also been identified as one of the features of the British Museum's own 'secret' collection. The appearance in Wellcome's collection of votive genitalia as well as a large number of phallic figures and amulets and other sexually themed antiquities of the type found in these 'secret' collections. The votive genitalia were deliberately acquired as important evidence in debates around humanity's wide-ranging response to health. The group of votive genitalia from Oppenheimer had been acquired by Wellcome within a larger group of other votives and as part of an even wider collection of Italian medical antiquities.
