Emily Chan
Luísa was hanged in 1772, and she became the last woman in the country to be executed. Some may argue that her head should be the one on display, not Alves’. But at the time of her death, the idea had not yet occurred to scientists.
When Alves died in 1841, the study of phrenology was just surfacing. Phrenology was developed by Franz Joseph Gall, a German physician, in the 1700s.
It was based on the concept that the measurements of bumps on the skull were indicative of personality traits and mental faculties.
Of course, phrenologists were interested in studying the skull of such a cruel criminal as Alves. They asked for his head to be severed and preserved. So, that’s how his head came to be at the university.
