Lecter is supposed to win over a college of finnicky scholars by giving a talk on the ways that the hanging of Judas Iscariot have been depicted in art. The speech wouldn't go over in a 101 course.
An Italian cop is hanged from the very building where his ancestor was hanged centuries earlier, his bowels hanging out.
Lecter and agent Starling pop the lid off a corrupt FBI agent and all three of them partake of his brains while he's still conscious. This scene has precedence in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM where the diners enjoy monkey brains.
Pizza anyone?