Category: Vignettes at Large
-
Paul-Emile Destouches: Can love triumph over disease?
In this painting by Parisian artist Paul-Emile Destouches (1794–1874), a young woman visits a young man who is ill and lies in bed surrounded by his relatives. The woman hopes that her visit will cure him, and indeed the young man’s face, though pale, has brightened. But many of the figures present are already wearing…
-
Bitter medicines
Medical remedies have a long history of unpleasantness, either because their nasty taste could not be masked or perhaps because of a traditional prejudice that a prescribed remedy would not work unless it was bitter, fizzed when dissolved in water, or was painful if given by injection. Classical examples are treacle, castor oil, and medications…