WEBVTT - The Artifact: Head of An Ox on a Tree Trunk

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lammon. This is the Artifact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on particular objects, ideas, and moments in time. On

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<v Speaker 2>a recent visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London,

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<v Speaker 2>I came across one of the weirder pieces of art

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<v Speaker 2>I think you could hope to find in such a place.

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<v Speaker 2>Alongside various historic pieces from around the world, here's something

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<v Speaker 2>that seems to stand outside of any given artistic tradition,

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<v Speaker 2>or so it seemed to me. It looks like the

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<v Speaker 2>creature from John Carpenter's The thing was in the process

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<v Speaker 2>of turning into an ox when the flamethrowers hit it.

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<v Speaker 2>The result a googly eyed head of an ox atop

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<v Speaker 2>a wooden pillar of twisting hooves and tissue. Granted, I

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<v Speaker 2>was pretty jet lagged when I first took this side,

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<v Speaker 2>literally struggling to stay awake on my feet, but this

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<v Speaker 2>absurdity really captured my attention and woke me up a

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<v Speaker 2>little bit. The museum's website lists it as head of

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<v Speaker 2>an Ox, while the signage in the museum calls it

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<v Speaker 2>head of an ox on a tree trunk. Indeed, this

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<v Speaker 2>bizarre sculpture from the second half of the seventeenth century

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<v Speaker 2>consists of an ox head carved from marble atop a

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<v Speaker 2>tree trunk, with added wooden hoofs. If all of this

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<v Speaker 2>was not enough, an oval cavity in the top of

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<v Speaker 2>the ox head contains a wrinkled stone that for all

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<v Speaker 2>the world looks like a fossilized or petrified brain. So

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<v Speaker 2>what is this brain all about? Well, for a while,

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<v Speaker 2>according to the museum and the museum piece by curator

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<v Speaker 2>Don Hoskin, it was long believed to be the fossilized

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<v Speaker 2>or petrified brain of an ox. Subsequent analysis, however, I think,

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<v Speaker 2>chiefly by the Natural History Museum in nineteen thirty three,

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<v Speaker 2>revealed that it was in fact an osteoma or benign

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<v Speaker 2>bone tumor, likely previously attached to the bones of an

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<v Speaker 2>elephant or whale. Given its enormous size still relative to

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<v Speaker 2>the sculptal system they're attached to, an ostioma can grow

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<v Speaker 2>quite large. According to a twenty eleven paper giant frontal

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<v Speaker 2>osteoma by Vishwakarma, at all one human osteoma reached a

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<v Speaker 2>size of seven point one by five point three by

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<v Speaker 2>five point one centimeters are roughly two point eight by

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<v Speaker 2>two by two inches, which they say is one of

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<v Speaker 2>the largest human ostioma ever reported. The ostioma in the

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<v Speaker 2>ox Head, however, is somewhat larger. As Hoskin explains in

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<v Speaker 2>her article, the piece is typical of seventeenth century fascination

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<v Speaker 2>with naturally occurring oddities, even if the naturally occurring centerpiece

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<v Speaker 2>of the work was not fully understood at the time.

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<v Speaker 2>While its origins are shrouded in mystery, the piece likely

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<v Speaker 2>came from a collection of curiosities in Villa Altequro and

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<v Speaker 2>Padua in northern Italy. The museum acquired the piece in

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<v Speaker 2>Venice in eighteen eighty two. The piece is on display now,

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<v Speaker 2>so if you find yourself in London, I do recommend

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<v Speaker 2>popping over to the Victoria and Albert Museum, go spend

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<v Speaker 2>a few moments with it and revel in the morbid

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<v Speaker 2>natural curiosity of a bygone age. Tune in for additional

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<v Speaker 2>episodes of The Artifact, the Monster Fact or Anamalia Stupendium

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<v Speaker 2>each week in the Wednesday slot here and the Stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow Your Mind podcast feed. As always You can

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<v Speaker 2>email us at contact at stuff to Blow your.

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<v Speaker 3>Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

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