A Surgeon in His Workroom Extracting Stones from a Man's Head; Symbolising the Expulsion of 'Folly' (Insanity)

Image credit: Wellcome Collection

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Notes

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Pictures of a surgeon making an incision in a patient's head in order to extract 'stones' (implying madness in the individual) do not represent an actual operation but are allegorical scenes referring to the subtraction of 'folly', or madness, from the body.

Wellcome Collection

London

Title

A Surgeon in His Workroom Extracting Stones from a Man's Head; Symbolising the Expulsion of 'Folly' (Insanity)

Date

1806

Medium

gouache on ivory (?)

Measurements

H 14 x W 10.8 cm

Accession number

21129i

Acquisition method

presumed to be part of the collection formed by Henry S. Wellcome

Work type

Miniature

Signature/marks description

Signed and dated: Einsle pinx 1806.

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Wellcome Collection

183 Euston Road, London, Greater London NW1 2BE England

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