The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp

“The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp”
by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
(1606 - 1669)

The Dutch baroque artist Rembrandt painted this famous group portrait in 1632 under the commission of a surgical anatomy association, which demonstrated human dissections for the public once a year.

Was the cadaver real, and was this painting a real dissection? Yes and no, Dr. Claman said.

“The man being dissected is rather healthy-looking for a dead guy, isn’t he? That’s because he was a convict, recently executed in the prime of his life. But the scene, is it real? Would you really begin a four-day-long human dissection back in the days when there was no preserving of the body by opening up the arm?

“ I don’t think so. You would have started with the intestines and gotten them out of the room.”

The gazes of some of the surgical students surrounding the cadaver are directed at what is probably a dissection manual in the lower right-hand corner, and also out into the audience – indicated the public’s presence.

Rembrandt has also masterfully used light and dark, Dr. Claman said.

“Notice how the shadow falls on the eyes of the cadaver because he’s dead. Rembrandt is not above symbolism."