Tag Archives: Caravaggio

A detailed depiction of a “crime scene” circa 1455

February 15, 2022

Daniel Gelfman Indianapolis, Indiana, United States   The use of forensic science to determine the etiology and manner of death has been attempted for millennia. Early autopsies involved inspection of the deceased individual and possibly an internal examination. The performance of autopsies has been greatly influenced by religious and political forces.1 There is a record […]

Engage the emotions

March 16, 2020

Florence Gelo Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States   Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610). The Taking of Christ, 1602 Oil on canvas. 135.5 x 169.5 cm L.14702. On indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland from the Jesuit Community, Leeson St., Dublin, who acknowledge the kind generosity of the late Dr Marie Lea-Wilson, 1992 Photo © […]

Bloody art

January 28, 2020

Francesca Portante d’Alessandro Rome, Italy   Crucifix, 1290, Giotto di Bondone, tempera on wood, Florence. Via Wikimedia. Public domain. Blood has always been depicted in art, from cavemen’s hunts, to medieval altarpieces and battle scenes, to modern film and photography. Blood is able to simultaneously represent both life and death, the sacred and profane, violence […]

Signs of diseases in art

May 2, 2019

Chris Clark Exeter, United Kingdom   Lucrezia Vertova Agliardi by Giovanni Battista Moroni (1557) The Metropolitan Museum of Art “Every human being tells a story even if he never speaks.”1 Two paintings hang next to each other in the sumptuous Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome: The Rest on the flight to Egypt and Penitent Magdalen. […]

A physician examining a patient’s urine

October 4, 2018

This painting from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford shows a physician uroscopist examining a specimen of urine in order to determine what was ailing his patient. It is a serious painting, unlike that of Dutch artists such as Jan Steen who regarded uroscopists as quacks and made fun of their pretentious mien and attire. The […]