Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Nicolaes Tulp

  • Early surgery of meningocele

    JMS PearceHull, England A variety of dysraphic states, recorded since antiquity, (Fig 1)1 are caused by the failed closure of the neural tube during the fourth week of embryonic life. They include hydrocephalus, Chiari malformations, and various types of spina bifida with meningocele or meningomyelocele. Nicolaes Tulp (1593–1674)—subject of Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson—in Observationes Medicae…

  • The Dutch anatomy lessons

    JMS PearceHull, England, United Kingdom The Hellenistic anatomist Herophilus (c. 330–c. 260 BC) and the physiologist Erasistratus (c. 325–c. 250 BC) were granted limited permission to dissect executed criminals with consent of the first Ptolemaic Pharaohs. This practice, essential for anatomical study, was then suppressed by ancient Greek taboos regarding purity, death, and cutting the…

  • Rembrandt—The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

    Tan ChenGrand Rapids, Michigan, United States Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp depicts a rare occasion of a public dissection in Amsterdam in 1632. This painting was commissioned by the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons during the time Dr. Tulp held the office of Praelector in Anatomy. Dr. Tulp, a well-known civic leader and…

  • Leonardo and the reinvention of anatomy

    Salvatore Mangione Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA   When Vesalius started his life journey five hundred years ago, Leonardo Da Vinci’s own journey into the human body was symbolically coming to an end. Denounced by a German collaborator for necromancy, he would eventually be barred by the Church from even entering the Ospedale di Santo Spirito under…