Tag: Summer 2014
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Defibrillation and Treadmill
Stuart RosenbushChicago, Illinois, United States Artist’s statement “Treadmill” tries to serve as a metaphor for human experiences, with varying paths and roads, ups and downs and surprises. “Defibrillation” is a pictorial representation of a disruptive, abnormal heart beat, triggering a potentially fatal, irregular heart rhythm—which is successfully restored to normal by an electrical discharge.…
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The history of the stethoscope
MAS AhmedRomford, United Kingdom Victoria TurnockLondon, United Kingdom No other symbol is as entwined with the concept of being a doctor as the stethoscope. It is currently one of the most widely used tools that doctors and nurses use for diagnostic purposes. Before its invention auscultation was done by placing the ear and head against…
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Book review: Creative Arts in Humane Medicine
Mary Ann McDermott Chicago, Illinois, United States McLean’s new book is for all those interested in healthcare and the arts. The book compiles programming descriptions, “how to” instructions, small research studies, personal memoirs, and short essays by medicine, nursing, and dentistry professionals as well as by patients, social service professionals, artists, students, and others! The…
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Dr. Arrieta and Francisco Goya
Self Portrait with Dr. Arrieta Francisco de Goya, 1820 William Stringer Los Angeles, California, United States Francisco Goya (1746-1828) was a deaf Spanish painter who almost died of a severe, unknown illness in 1819.1 He painted this self-portrait in 1820 to illustrate the kind and attentive care provided by Dr. Arrieta.2 In Goya’s…
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Francisco de Goya: a portrait of illness
Trang Ngoc Diem Vu Rochester, Minnesota, United States Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta, 1820 Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund Francisco de Goya’s Self-Portrait with Dr. Arrieta is a Romantic painting illustrating one of Goya’s most severe bouts of illness. The inscription beneath the scene reads,…
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Lorenzo Lotto: Portrait of a surgeon
During his long peripatetic career the Venetian artist Lorenzo Lotto produced two paintings of medical interest, both in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The earlier painting, also shown as an Art Flash (qv), is of the physician, Giovanni Agostino della Torre and his son Niccolò, dated 1513. This painting, dated 1544, is…
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Saint Peter Martyr
Saint Peter Martyr, 1205-1252, was a Verona born Dominican friar who became Papal Inquisitor and preached against prevailing heresies. Killed by an assassin, who struck his head with an axe, he was canonized by Pope Innocent IV within one year of his death. While alive, he had many miracles attributed to him. The painting from the Metropolitan Museum in…
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Evidence of a skull trepanning
Alexandru Gh. Sonoc Sibiu, Romania Unknown man with a white feather Christopher Paudiss (1618-1666) Oil on fire wood panel Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu, Romania The man shown here wears a blue velvet hat with a white feather and a brown-reddish cloak. Around his neck he has a brocade scarf in red, ocher, and blue.…
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The trapped peasant
Alexandru Gh. SonocSibiu, Romania A strange looking dentist (tall hat, long hair, goatee, sword, tall boots) is pulling a peasant’s tooth. Behind the peasant, a woman (traditionally considered as his wife, but more likely a prostitute) opens a purse hanging together with a dagger on his belt, and picks some coins from it. Behind the…
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Mindfulness in art: Robert Rauschenberg’s White Painting
In September of 1953, the Stable Gallery in New York City hosted a landmark exhibit of work by a young Robert Rauschenberg (pictured above at the exhibition) and by Cy Twombly.1 Included in the show were two pieces from Robert Rauschenberg’s White Painting series, consisting of rectangular canvases covered in matte white paint, applied by roller,…