Speculative Taxidermy

RECONFIGURING ANIMAL SKINS63

functions as a precursor of the modern conception of natural history
specimen in the museum, its cultural afterlife somewhat suspended be-
tween the epistemic ambitions of early science, the status of royal pet,
and that of the trophy granted by its size and rarity as the centerpiece of
a collection.

SPECULATIVE TAXIDERMY: MATERIALITY AND

REPRESENTATIONAL REGISTERS

So far, this chapter has been concerned with the epistemic limitations of
traditional taxidermy historiography, the way metanarratives conceal
human/animal relationships, and the recovery of power/knowledge
dynamics that define discourses and practices involved in them. This

FIGURE 1.3 Crocodile suspended from the ceiling of Chiesa Santa Maria Annunziata
at Ponte Nossa, Italy, 2013. Photograph courtesy of Ago76, CC BY-SA 3.0.