In the 16th century, public human dissections were performed once or twice a year - during the winter - in churches, university halls, and within temporary theatrical structures, built for that particular event and then taken down. Anatomical theaters later became permanent structures and symbols of civic identity in Padua (1594), Leiden (1596), and Bologna (1638). They were complex spaces for learning, spectacle, and social performance: in the theater one could argue over the shape of bodily organs, show up among the city elite, or simply attend a frightening and memorable show about life and death. A ticket was needed to get inside, and music was regularly performed during dissections.

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The spectacle of the bones and the thin line between the living and dead inspired the quilts in this series.