Kranium 1838

Andreas Flinch made this drawing of a skull, titled “Kranium,” sometime in the 19th century. During this period, scientific and pseudoscientific studies of skulls, like phrenology and craniometry, were considered legitimate ways to define and reinforce racial hierarchies. Skulls became potent symbols in debates about race, identity, and human worth. The scientific gaze, often wielded by those in power, sought to classify and categorize humanity, sometimes with devastating consequences for marginalized groups. What do you feel as you look into this image of a skull? It is impossible to look at this image and not contemplate the history of how such images have been used to assert power, to deny personhood, to create hierarchies. The clinical detachment with which the skull is rendered belies the loaded history of how scientific authority has been used to dehumanize.