EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART REVEALS MYSTERY BEHIND LIFE STUDY CAST

FOR GENERATIONS, THE CAST OF AN UNKNOWN CRIMINAL DUBBED WITH THE MOCK LATIN TITLE OF 'SMUGGLERIUS', HAS BEEN USED IN THE TEACHING OF ANATOMICAL DRAWING AT EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART WITH NO REAL KNOWLEDGE OF ITS PROVENANCE. A NEW EXHIBITION, DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE ONGOING RESTORATION OF THE EDINBURGH COLLEGE OF ART CAST COLLECTION, AT LAST REVEALS THE MAN BEHIND THE CAST. IN ADDITION TO DETAILED RESEARCH WHICH EXAMINES THE HISTORY OF THE CAST AND THE LIFE OF THE MAN IT WAS MOST LIKELY MOLDED FROM, THE EXHIBITION INCLUDES ORIGINAL ARTWORKS CREATED IN RESPONSE TO 'SMUGGLERIOUS' AND THE THEME OF A PAST UNVEILED. DATING FROM 1854, THE COLLEGE SMUGGLERIOUS IS A COPY OF AN ORIGINAL ECORCHE, A FIGURE WITH THE SKIN AND FAT REMOVED TO EXPOSE THE MUSCLES AND TENDONS, MADE IN 1776 AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ART IN LONDON. THE EARLIER CAST, NOW LOST, WAS MOLDED FROM THE BODY OF A HANGED CRIMINAL BY THE SCULPTOR AGOSTINO CARLINI, FOLLOWING ITS DISSECTION BY WILLIAM HUNTER, THE FAMOUS ANATOMIST. THE COLLEGE CAST, WHICH RETAINS THE STUNNING DETAIL OF THE ORIGINAL, WAS MADE BY A LITTLE KNOWN 'MOLDER AND FIGURE MAKER' CALLED WILLIAM PINK, PROBABLY AT THE TIME OF HIS EMPLOYMENT AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM; AN INSCRIPTION ON THE BASE OF THE CAST STATES 'PUBLISHED BY W PINK MOLDER 1854'. WORKING ALONGSIDE THE RESTORATION PROJECT, ARTIST AND LECTURER JOAN SMITH JOINED FORCES WITH ANTHROPOLOGIST DR JEANNE CANNIZZO TO DEVELOP A RESEARCH PROJECT THAT WOULD EXPLORE THE PROVENANCE OF SMUGGLERIOUS. WORKING TOGETHER FOR TWO YEARS, THE RESEARCH PROJECT NOW REACHES FRUITION WITH THE EXHIBITION, REVEALING THE HISTORY AND THE IDENTITY OF THE FLAYED MAN. SEEKING TO EXPOSE AND REVERSE THE PROCESS BY WHICH A LIVING MAN WITH A NAME BECAME AN ANONYMOUS SPECIMEN AND EVENTUALLY A REPLICA CAST, SMUGGLERIOUS UNVEILED EXPLORES QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY, AND IMMORTALITY IN ART.