Jan Josef Horemans was the leading painter of everyday life in Antwerp in the first half of the eighteenth century, and was master of the Antwerp painters' guild in 1706. With the aid of various tricks of composition, his pictures present a vivid account of episodes in private houses, inns and courtyards – in this case a surgeon's house to which a man has come to be treated for a wound or inflammation. The surgeon, with his back to the viewer, takes charge of the case, while his apprentice (wearing a red jacket) starts work on the manual treatment of the patient. On the right is an agitated woman, who may be either a distressed relative of the injured man or the next patient waiting her turn. Above right, shelves hold vessels which contain oils, balms and unguents for use in surgery.