Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

Image:Rembrandt Van Rijn, Die Anatomiestunde des Dr. Nicolaes Tulp.jpg Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp is a 1632oil paintingby Rembrandt. The 2.17×1.63-meter(7.1×5.3-foot) oil-on-canvaspainting is held by the Mauritshuismuseum in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Two people in the painting can be positively identified: the physician is Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, who is explaining the musculatureof the armto the spectators, and the corpse is that of the criminal Aris Kindt, hangedearlier that day for armed robbery.

The event can be dated to 16 January1632: the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons, of which Tulp was official City Anatomist, permitted only one public dissectiona year, and the body would have to be that of an executed criminal.

Anatomylessons were a social event in the 17th century, taking place in lecture rooms that were actual theatres, with students, colleagues and the general public being permitted to attend on payment of an entrance fee. The spectators are appropriately dressed for a solemn social occasion: they are probably colleagues of Dr. Tulp. It is thought that, with the exceptions of the figures to the rear and left, these people were added to the picture later.

One person is missing: the Preparator, whose task it was to prepare the body for the lesson. In the 17th centuryan important scientistsuch as Dr. Tulp would not be involved in menial and bloody work like dissectionand such tasks would be left to others. It is for this reason that the picture shows no cutting instruments. Instead we see in the lower right corner an enormous open textbookon anatomy, possibly the 1543 De Humani Corporis Fabrica (Fabric of the Human Body) by Andreas Vesalius.

Modern specialists have commented on the accuracy of musclesand tendonspainted by the 26-year-old Rembrandt. It is not known where he obtained such knowledge; it is possible that he copied the details from an anatomical textbook.

The face of the corpse is partially shaded, a suggestion of ombra mortis, a technique that Rembrandt was to use frequently.

References

• The Anatomy Lesson of Nicolaes Tulp at the Literature, Arts & Medicine Database
• Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Professor Nicolaes Tulp by A.C. Masqueletde:Die Anatomie des Dr. Tulp

fr:Leçon d'anatomie du docteur Tulp it:Lezione di anatomia del dottor Tulp (Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn) pt:A Lição de Anatomia do Dr. Tulp

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