The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman
Year 1656
Dimensions 100 cm × 134 cm (39 in × 53 in)
Location Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam
Preparatory sketch for the work.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (alternative spelling Deyman) is a 1656, fragmentary painting by Rembrandt, now in Amsterdam Museum. It is a group portrait showing a brain dissection by Dr Jan Deijman (1619-1666). Much of the canvas was destroyed in a fire in 1723 and the painting was subsequently recut to its present dimensions, though a preparatory sketch shows the full group.

The painting shows Dr. Deijman performing a brain dissection on the cadaver of an executed criminal, the Flemish tailor Joris "Black Jack" Fonteijn (1633/34-1656). Dr. Deijman's assistant, the surgeon Gijsbert Calkoen (1621-1664), is seen on the left, holding the top of the dead man's skull.

The perspective of the corpse is depicted with exaggerated foreshortening to give the viewer a sense of standing in front of the dissection table, similar to the foreshortening in Mantegna's Lamentation of Christ, which Rembrandt would have been familiar with through prints.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The anatomy lesson of Dr. Joan Deyman.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 17, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.