LUSTUCRU. The first appearance of a character named Lustucru, a blacksmith turned brain surgeon or "operateur cephalique" first appeared in 1659. In this later print circa 1800, he appears at right in the central trio of blacksmiths, his mallet upraised over a woman's head, which he's gripping with a pair of tongs. Other female heads swing from meat hooks, waiting their turn. In the left foreground, two men drag a still intact woman to the forge; the words near her mouth say,"I don't want to go there". The sign of the shop, hanging at upper left, displays a decapitated woman's body above the words "questo e tutto buono" meaning "A woman without a head: everything is good". To clarify their ghastly intent, the block of text encourages men to
GRUESOME ENGRAVING
Published by Lettered below image. 'In Roma presso Piale Neg.e di Stampe, e Carta, a S. Carlo al Corso No.428.' circa 1800, Italy, 1800
From Marrins Bookshop, Folkestone, KENT, United Kingdom
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