Gunther von Hagens to the hat worn in "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp" by Rembrandt). Von Hagens has said that his grand goal is the founding of a "Museum of Man" where exhibits of human anatomy can be permanently shown. He is on record as commenting that after death he plans to donate plastinated wafers of his body to several universities, so that in death he can (physically) teach at several locations, something that he cannot do while alive. In January 2011, he announced that he was dying from Parkinson's disease and that after his death his wife would plastinate his
Dirck Tulp had been used for dying silk since 1603. The silk was imported from Persia, and shipped, either through Archangelsk or the Strait of Gibraltar. A pair of fashionable Flemish ladies had headed it, its activities occurring in its light and airy attics. Over the years, the operation was largely moved to the Jordaan. When Tulp and his wife began building-work in 1652, they had the building embellished with stucco and the floor laid with marble. The Kloveniersburgwal was an attractive site for the rich, being close to the nerve center of the VOC, in which Tulp was appointed as delegate.