A popular and controversial exhibit showing life-like human corpses could be coming to the Milwaukee Public Museum next year.

"Body Worlds," the creation of German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, has toured the world in front of millions of museum patrons. Since the original exhibition made its appearance in 1995 in Japan, von Hagens has created two more exhibitions of exposed corpses preserved by his method of plastination.

In total, more than 20 million people have seen the three exhibitions, according to the "Body Worlds" Web site.

And "Body Worlds 2" remained open late this weekend at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry so patrons could see the exhibition before it closed there Sunday.

But no matter where the exhibitions traveled, objections, primarily from theologians, have accompanied them.

The Milwaukee Public Museum is currently negotiating with the firm that produced "Body Worlds" to get the original exhibit to come here, probably sometime next year. If it does, the museum would consult with Marquette theology professors or the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said museum spokeswoman Ellen Burmeister.

Marquette's theology department would welcome consultations with the museum, according to the Rev. John Laurance, chair of Marquette's theology department.

The exhibit features corpses positioned in various ways – a chess player, soccer player and man riding a horse, for example. The way in which the bodies are presented – and that they are even presented in public at all – has caused some in the Church to question how well the exhibit preserves human dignity.

"The ways in which (the bodies) are displayed tends to make them objects in fabricated settings that may have no relevance whatsoever to the lives these people lived or the dignity that should be accorded to them," said Jame Schaefer, assistant professor of theology, in an e-mail.

Dr. Keith Bauer, an assistant professor of philosophy who specializes in bioethics and health care ethics, said the various poses of the corpses show the dynamics of the human body.

"You get a better sense of that from an exhibit like that than you would from a two-dimensional diagram in a book," he said.

Schaefer, who studies the relationship between the natural sciences and theology, said it is important to know as much as possible about the human body to improve "relevant, cogent and meaningful theological discourse about the human person." But she questioned the exhibit's claim that it helps viewers understand "what makes us human."

Assistant professor of theology Ulrich Lehner said in an e-mail that the exhibit allows people to sell their dignity to the exhibition. There's no difference between the exhibit and preserving someone in a formaldehyde container in the basement, he said.

"If we believe that every human being has inherent dignity, then such a human body, which is the carrier of that dignity, should be buried with dignity," he said.

Like Marquette's theology department, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee also said it could be consulted by the museum.

"The Archdiocese would welcome the chance for dialogue," said spokeswoman Kathleen Hohl.

She said it is too early for the Archdiocese to weigh in on the exhibit without having seen plans for it first.

Bauer, who plans on attending the exhibit, said "Body Worlds" might shock people since it could violate customs regarding respect for the dead. The larger issue for some, Bauer argues, is not a question of ethics or religion, but of aesthetics.

"Some don't see it as something appealing," he said.

The exhibit might have a "Frankenstein-ish" effect for some visitors, but overall has an "enormous educational value," Bauer said.