Cat Irving
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anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Cat Irving
@anatomicalcat.bsky.social
8.1K followers 820 following 690 posts
Human Remains Conservator at Surgeons’ Hall. Snake charmer. Beagle feeder. All-round general necromancer
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anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · Nov 17
Hello #bluesky!

What does a human remains conservator do?

I work at Surgeons’ Hall, Edinburgh (and other collections) to ensure human remains are correctly preserved and cared for. I also research the history of dissection and the variety of ways humanity has tried to stop decomposition
A picture of me, a woman in her mid 40s with a lot of red curly hair, in gloves and arm protectors bent over a very large glass jar (contents out of sight)
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Illustration of heart anatomy by Anna Maria D’Errico at the Institute of Human Anatomy of the University of Siena, during the 1960s.
A black and grey illustration of the heart with the blood vessels shown in blue and red. Mounted in a board
November 25, 2025 at 7:24 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Part two of my evening!
A large projector screen with Surgeons’ Hall branding saying ‘up next - the process of decomposition with Cat Irving’
November 21, 2025 at 10:50 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Part one of my evening!
A surgeons’ hall branded notice advertising the anatomy of fingerprints
November 21, 2025 at 7:05 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
I’m talking decomposition tonight, so I’m wearing my fly ring
November 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Some of the skulls in the Church of the Dead in Urbania. The Latin inscription reads - it is ordained for all men to die once.
A number of skulls sitting on top of a wooden case. In front of them is an off centre and somewhat uneven plaque with a Latin inscription. Behind is a fresco and a cross
November 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Cat Irving
pietersender.bsky.social
🎶 He cares not if you’re sleeping / Nor if you are awake / Your mind a fragile toy for Him / Your blood His thirst will slake 🎶
mattthr.bsky.social Matt Thrower @mattthr.bsky.social · 8d
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
November 18, 2025 at 7:22 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Anatomical plaster bust made in the eighteenth century by A. Nicolas
A model Of the head and torso with half the head dissected to show the structures underneath
November 19, 2025 at 10:01 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
It was lovely to see homage to the Hunterian Museum’s Evelyn Tables in @realgdt.bsky.social Frankenstein. These four tables were made in Padua, taking arteries, veins and nerves dissected in Padua’s famous anatomical theatre, pasting them to boards and varnishing them to protect and preserve
The top half of a pine board with the human nervous system laid out
November 18, 2025 at 8:12 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
The fabulous skeleton of St. Pancratius in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Wil, Switzerland. He is a catacomb saints - skeletons exhumed in Rome and sent across the Alps to replace those destroyed during the Reformation. They typically ended up elaborately dressed and bejewelled
A skeleton dressed in silver armour with gold embellishments, and wearing a helmet with huge gold rays forming a halo. Pictures from the waist up, against at white background
November 18, 2025 at 7:13 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
The ossuary of Eggenburg in Austria
Human bones arranged in the shape of an eye, with the pupil as a amalgamation of skulls, the lower lashes as femurs and the upper lashes as skulls. Behind is a wall of skulls.
November 15, 2025 at 5:14 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
This is Udny Green Morthouse, Aberdeenshire, a round building with a heavy oak door. Inside is a 5.5m cast iron turntable. Coffins would be put in and moved around for up to 3 months before being taken out for burial - by which point they were no use to anatomists
A side view of an oak door with metal studs in a round building. Behind gravestones can be seen
November 11, 2025 at 6:51 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
If you’re in Edinburgh come and join me for an exploration of the Dance of Death. Tomorrow night!
edinburghforteansociety.org.uk Edinburgh Fortean Society @edinburghforteansociety.org.uk · Oct 25
Next EdFortSoc: 12th Nov 2025, 7.30pm

@anatomicalcat.bsky.social will be speaking on:

Will You Join The Dance? A brief history of the Danse Macabre

Plus!
Grand auction of books, etc.!
The Royal Oak
1 Infirmary Street
Edinburgh
7.30pm, £1
Will You Join The Dance? A brief history of the Danse Macabre The Dance of Death was an artistic trope that began in the fifteenth century to show death as the great leveller: everyone will die, from the lowliest peasant to the king and the pope. Death is depicted as a skeleton, leading people from all walks of life to join his dance. This talk will look at the origins of this image, and the way it evolved, and tied in with other memento mori images, as well as reflecting shifts in anatomical understanding. Cat’s Bio: Cat Irving has been the Human Remains Conservator for Surgeons’ Hall since 2015 and has been caring for anatomical and pathological museum collections for over twenty years. After a degree in Anatomical Science she began removing brains and sewing up bodies at the Edinburgh City Mortuary. Following training in the care of wet tissue collections at the Royal College of Surgeons of England she worked with the preparations of William Hunter at the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University, where she is now Consultant Human Remains Conservator. Cat is a licensed anatomist, and gives regular talks on anatomy and medical history. She recently carried out conservation work on the skeleton of serial killer William Burke. Auction There will also be an auction of donated books etc. So please bring any Fortean related books or other things you would like to donate, and also some cash. The auction proceedings will be split between group funds and a charity to be decided on the night. Wednesday 12th of November The Royal Oak 1 Infirmary Street Edinburgh 7.30pm, £1 The Dance of Death as depicted in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film "The Seventh Seal", with the knight and his five companions, now dead from the plague, dancing in a chain behind the Grim Reaper.
November 11, 2025 at 6:22 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Forgot to post the ghosts I made last weekend (delicious, though some of them vomited their filling over their own eyes while in the oven.)
a plate with glazed pastries shaped like ghosts.
November 8, 2025 at 5:58 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
A plate from Anatomie générale des viscères by Jacques-Fabien Gautier D’Agoty (1752). It is an early example of colour printing, using engraved metal plates to make four separate impressions in black, red, yellow, and blue inks to produce the final image
An illustration showing a person with their head back with the lower part of their face and neck dissected to show the anatomical structures. Below the neck they are stripped to the bone, with the left side of the chest opened to show the heart. The nerves are visible. To the left of the person is an illustration of the brain and spine with the spinal nerves emerging, and of the dpibs’ cord itself. Against a turquoise background
November 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
A scene from the Totentanz - Dance of Death - in Bleibach, Germany, which dates to 1723, and still has all 34 scenes - made up of 33 couples and a skeletal band - along with the accompanying text, making it one of the most complete in Europe. This scene shows Death with the Burgher.
A painting of a male figure in stockings, a tricorn hat over curled hair, and a long brocaded jacket turns away from a capering skeleton who lays a hand on his shoulder.
November 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
I said that I would post more about my visit to the Chiesa dei Morti. The church contains 18 preserved remains which have been displayed in cases since 1833. The majority were preserved by natural processes which occurred in the burial ground, and were discovered when the bodies were being relocated
A series of preserved remains stood in arched wooden cases with elaborate carved plaques above, and skulls lining the tops of the cases
November 4, 2025 at 8:30 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
A bisected skeleton in the University of Siena. This is very useful to help understand some anatomical features - here you can see clearly see the arterial grooves for the middle meningeal artery insid the skull. These grooves come from pulsation of the blood putting pressure on the bone
A skeleton split down the middle and pictured from the mid torso upwards. Against a white background
November 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Our house.
pietersender.bsky.social Daniel Pietersen @pietersender.bsky.social · Oct 26
🎶 ‘Ware ye, child, of the Turnip-Man / With turnip head and turnip hands / His turnip heart’s as cold as ice / And at his belt gleams a turnip knife 🎶
October 26, 2025 at 10:39 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
A wax model showing the anatomy of the eye. The sclera - the white of the eye - is peeled back to reveal the nerves going to the iris. Doesn’t it look like a flower?
A model of the eye made from wax, showing the sclera folded back in four leaflets like petals. Underneath the nerves radiate out around the central pupil. They are silvery against a dark dark blue. The optic nerve comes down at the back like a stem. The whole thing lies against a wooden background
October 26, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Cat Irving
edinburghforteansociety.org.uk
Next EdFortSoc: 12th Nov 2025, 7.30pm

@anatomicalcat.bsky.social will be speaking on:

Will You Join The Dance? A brief history of the Danse Macabre

Plus!
Grand auction of books, etc.!
The Royal Oak
1 Infirmary Street
Edinburgh
7.30pm, £1
Will You Join The Dance? A brief history of the Danse Macabre The Dance of Death was an artistic trope that began in the fifteenth century to show death as the great leveller: everyone will die, from the lowliest peasant to the king and the pope. Death is depicted as a skeleton, leading people from all walks of life to join his dance. This talk will look at the origins of this image, and the way it evolved, and tied in with other memento mori images, as well as reflecting shifts in anatomical understanding. Cat’s Bio: Cat Irving has been the Human Remains Conservator for Surgeons’ Hall since 2015 and has been caring for anatomical and pathological museum collections for over twenty years. After a degree in Anatomical Science she began removing brains and sewing up bodies at the Edinburgh City Mortuary. Following training in the care of wet tissue collections at the Royal College of Surgeons of England she worked with the preparations of William Hunter at the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University, where she is now Consultant Human Remains Conservator. Cat is a licensed anatomist, and gives regular talks on anatomy and medical history. She recently carried out conservation work on the skeleton of serial killer William Burke. Auction There will also be an auction of donated books etc. So please bring any Fortean related books or other things you would like to donate, and also some cash. The auction proceedings will be split between group funds and a charity to be decided on the night. Wednesday 12th of November The Royal Oak 1 Infirmary Street Edinburgh 7.30pm, £1 The Dance of Death as depicted in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film "The Seventh Seal", with the knight and his five companions, now dead from the plague, dancing in a chain behind the Grim Reaper.
October 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Skulls of Santa Croce…
A stylised two dimensional skull on the corner of a tomb, on black marble against red tiles. Looking right. A painted skull with mandible detached sitting on the ground amongst streams of blood A stylised two dimensional skull on the corner of a tomb, on black marble. Looking left.
October 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Cat Irving
angryalgonquin.bsky.social
@drlindseyfitz.bsky.social @bschillace.brandyschillace.com @anatomicalcat.bsky.social @moviessilently.bsky.social @gnofhorror.com

I covet this poster as I have never coveted anything

The IMAX poster for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, by artist James Jean.

I am ENTHRALLED
The IMAX poster for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, by artist James Jean. It is GORGEOUS but hard to describe! Combines so many elements, primary color red with pops of dark blue and yellow. Font LOOKS Cyrillic but is not. I love it. At middle is a giant rib cage with wings extending from it, in red. Frankenstein at lower middle. It's like a fever dream.
October 18, 2025 at 9:40 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Dissected torso produced in wax by the famed Florentine modeller Clemente Susini
A female torso showing the anatomy of the thorax with the right shoulder and through also dissected. The face is still intact, and lies serenely tilted back, eyes shut. The hair is dark and curling, and the figure is in a glass case with a wooden back, with white cloth between the figure and the board
October 17, 2025 at 2:06 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
This is the Capella dos Ossos in Faro, Portugal, with autumnal light slanting beautifully over the bones. I could hear small children laughing in the playground behind the chapel, emphasising the fragility of the boundary between life and death, reminding me to appreciate the small beauties in life
A skull without its mandible mounted in a wall of long bones.
October 14, 2025 at 7:08 PM
anatomicalcat.bsky.social
Went shopping. Came home with a skeleton.
A window with lots of greenery and a medical plastic skeleton standing to one side.
October 12, 2025 at 3:57 PM