Woman confronting a living severed head in a lab

A realistic book illustration for the science fiction novel "Professor Dowell's Head." A young woman in an old-fashioned 1920s laboratory coat gazes with horror and compassion at a square glass board with metal legs, attached to a table. A LIVE HUMAN HEAD, an elderly professor with a noble but suffering face, is connected to it. Glass tubes and hoses extend from the head's throat and arteries to complex cylinders with gauges and hissing valves. Dark, contrasting "noir" light emanates from the devices, creating an atmosphere of mystery, science, and gothic horror. Detail photo realism, cinematic lighting, dark moody atmosphere, 8k resolution.