An new exhibition by controversial anatomist Gunther von Hagens showing two corpses having sexual intercourse has met with criticism.
The German entrepreneur, who describes himself as a plastinator, has earned international fame for his Body Worlds shows which feature human cadavers arranged in lifelike poses.
But his latest project Cycle of Life, which opens in Berlin today, has been condemned as indecent and offensive for arranging two dead bodies as if they were making love.
A group of cross-party German MPs have called for the work to be withdrawn.
"Love and death are obvious topics for art but I find it quite disgusting to use them in this way," the Social Democrat member Fritz Felegentreu was quoted as saying in The Guardian.
Alice Strover, a Green party representative, said the installation was "over the top and should not be shown".
Von Hagens has defended his piece, insisting it is not intended to be sexually stimulating and the models gave their consent to the pose. But this is not the first time he has provoked controversy. In 2002 he went ahead with the first public autopsy in 170 years in Britain, despite concerns that he could be arrested.
He was once accused of using the bodies of executed prisoners from China in his plastination process and in 2004 he returned seven corpses which had head injuries because he said he could not prove they had not been executed.
The scientist's technique, which involves removing body fluids and fat from corpses and replacing them with plastic resin, has made him a multi-millionaire.
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