National Museum of Anthropology

This guide to the National Museum of Anthropology in Madrid follows Agustín Luengo Capilla, a farm boy from Extremadura born in 1849 who grew so tall his family had to alter their house to fit him and who was touring with a circus by age twelve. It traces the daily bargain the museum's founding physician struck with him over his own future remains, and the unusual hands and height that first caught the doctor's attention. Bone tuberculosis, the guide notes, is what eventually caught up with the young performer.