Anatomy question for our Docs

[aruvqan]

So I was browsing Knowledge Nuts, and ran across todays item, about a 19th century investigation into what actually happens to a crucified body. A couple things, the first one is if they already did the experiment, and it doesn’t seem like anybody kept it secret, why the heck do people ‘recreate’ what must have happened. I mean I have seen at least 3 documentaries on various channels over the past decade about people trying to recreate various aspects.

Secondly [and there are links at the bottom to a photograph of the plaster cast corpse, so yuck alert.]

In the article it says:

There are several notable differences between the typical paintings of Christ crucified and the cast of James Legg. First, the skin of the armpits hangs down to a grotesque degree. More abruptly, however, the contents of the stomach bulge down and out, creating a deep and shocking indentation between the lower halves of the rib cage.

I can understand the abdominal distension, but why would that funky armpit flap deal happen? When I position my arms like in the casting, the muscle in the area is pulled tight.

[Sigene]

well, it was flayed to remove the skin. So it’s possible the cast is misleading because the act of flaying may distort the body contours