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Many Netherlandish painters of the seventeenth century painted what look like scenes from everyday life. There has been much debate over whether such pictures are purely descriptive or in some ways prescriptive. In the latter case, they would be akin to sermons, gentle moral lessons, or satires on bad behaviour. This painting shows an operation in the house of a master surgeon, whose apprentice on the right is preparing the treatment. In the right background there is an open wall-mounted chest of surgical equipment, while jars of medicinal substances are kept in the jars arrayed on shelves. So far, so descriptive. On the left however, a man seen from behind is shown going out through a door above which is a tattered red chalk drawing. The drawing shows Fortune on her wheel, responsible for the uncertainty of human life.
Title
A Surgeon Removing a Plaster from a Man's Back, with Five People Looking On
Date
c.1647–1667
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 48.3 x W 64.8 cm
Accession number
500931i
Acquisition method
purchased
Work type
Painting
