This painting completed by Rembrandt in 1632 when he was
just 26 has an interesting story. The
painting is titled Anatomy Lesson of Dr.
Tulip and it happened to be Rembrandt’s first important commission.
Dr. Tulip was a real person…..not only was he involved in
medicine he was also involved in Amsterdam’s government. It was Dr. Tulip’s signature found on the
fitness reports for the first Dutch settlers on the island of Manhattan.
Not only did the medical students in the picture pay to
witness Dr. Tulip’s dissection they also paid a fee to be featured in the painting. Dr. Tulip is seen showing the muscles of the
arm.
Notice they all appear to be wearing warm clothing because
the dissection theater would have been kept as cold as possible to keep the
body from deteriorating.
Also notice there are no cutting instruments. Someone as important as Dr. Tulip would not
have participated in the actual cutting of the body. That role would have gone to the Preparator….it
was his task to prepare the body for the lesson, and he is missing from
Rembrandt’s picture.
And the body? He
was the criminal Aris Kindt who was convicted for armed robbery and sentenced
to death by hanging.
Art historians can actually pinpoint this painting to
January 16, 1632….since the guild of surgeons was permitted one public dissection
a year, and the body had to be that of a convicted criminal.
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