A pintura de Rembrandt, como a de outros artistas, no mostra os

espectadores, mas circunda o cirurgio com seus admirados assistentes.

uma viso do sculo XVII equivalente ao moderno Festschrift, um volume de
ensaios escritos em homenagem a um eminente acadmico pelo seu
discpulo. Douglas Mannering, A Arte de Rembrandt, p. 36
The unique Tulp painting is one of those portraits painted in the tradition of the
famous group portraits which flourished in 17th-century Holland, a
predominantly urban, middle-class society where the main patrons of the arts
were the leading citizens of the various towns. Moreover, it is a portrait in the
tradition of the anatomy lessons especially painted for the Guild of Surgeons for
their Guild Room. Nine such lessons have been painted for the guild and are
still to be found in Dutch museums (Mauritshuis and Amsterdam Historical
Museum). B. Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy lessons, p. 3
They provide, together with archival sources, reliable information about the
praelectores anatomiae and the leading persons of the guild, but fail to give
much information about the dissecting room, the anatomy theatre or the
procedure. - B. Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy lessons, p. 3
The Anatomy Lessons differ from the Group Portraits of Regents, in that
attention is clearly centred on one individual, the person conducting the lesson.
This tradition started with the picture of an anatomy lesson on the title page of
Andreas Vesalius' "De humani corporis fabrica" in 1543 (Vesalius 1543, Nuyens
1928). In the 16th century it became customary to produce pictures of anatomy
lessons on title pages of medical books. The earliest anatomy lesson painted in
Amsterdam dates from 1603. - B. Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy
lessons, p. 3
Another phenomenon in all the paintings is the absence of dissecting
instruments. Vesalius was already using a number of instruments for his
dissections. - B. Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy lessons, p. 10
Anatomy lessons are group portraits of surgeons' guilds. Surgeons were
naturally united by their interest in learning all they could about the physical
aspects of the human body, and they did so by dissecting corpses.
Dissection,or occasionally the examination of a skeleton, provided the basic
motif of the anatomy-lesson type of group portrait from the beginning of its
evolution. Itis symptomatic of the stage that group portraiture had reached by
1600 that from the start, there was always only one person in charge, namely,
the professor. Nevertheless, artists still had enough latitude in handling
thesubordinating relationship between the professor and his audience, as well
asbetween that audience and the viewer, to allow for further systematic evolution which like all other aspects of the art of the period moved in
anincreasingly subjective direction. Alois Riegl, Group Portraits, p.194-196
DR. EGBERTZ 1 - In Pietersz's painting, the body is not even dissected. In the
De Keijser's painting, the composition gives the impression that the prelector is
lecturing on the vertebral column. The painting by Eliasz only shows a skull
without any further indication. In the anatomical lessons of Tulp and Deijman,

both by Rembrandt, a real demonstration of anatomical structures in a (partly)

dissected body is seen. The painting by Backer gives the impression of a
demonstration of the inguinal canal. In the compositions of the paintings by Van
Neck and Troost there is a good demonstration of anatomical structures, as well
as in the painting by Regters, but the composition does not show any action. B. Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy lessons, p. 10
DR. EGBERTZ 1 - We know, however, that Pietersz. had begun this large work
with its twenty-nine figures several years earlier but hadbeen interrupted by an
outbreak of plague in Amsterdam. If we ignore for amoment the corpse lying on
a dissecting table that runs parallel to the picturesurface that is, in a plane
and the spatial center surrounding it, we find theexact same characteristics that
are familiar to us from the artist's civic guardgroup portrait of 1599. Alois
Riegl, Group Portraits, p. 196
DR. EGBERTZ 1 - The device of having all twenty-nine men focusing their
attention in thedirection of the viewer, who can be thought of as suddenly
having appeared in their midst, proves to be a very successful one for unifying
the group. The viewer, who represents the final necessary ingredient of a genre
scene, then completes the group. For a moment, we entirely forget that there is
something going on in this painting that is centered on one man, to whom the
other twenty-eight are supposed to be subordinating themselves. Alois Riegl,
Group Portraits, p. 196
DR. EGBERTZ 1 - Instead, the professor seems vaguely disturbed by the
intruder (or intruders) who is (or are) momentarily drawing the attention of the
others from his words. He also seems intent on ignoringthis intrusion and not
losing the thread of his lecture. At all events, in contrastto the other men in his
immediate vicinity, the professor is the only one whois not subordinating himself
to the viewer. Alois Riegl, Group Portraits, p. 197
DR. EGBERTZ 2 - In contrast to this group of four standing figures, the two
physicians seated in the foreground are directing their attention toward the
viewer, and one of them, on the right, is gesturing with a raised right hand
toward the skeleton,the object of the professor's lecture. These two figures thus
establish external coherence between at least some of the people in the
painting and the viewer; and since one of them also points to the group that has
been unified inter-nally, it also builds a bridge between that group and the
viewer. Alois Riegl, Group Portraits, p. 239
DR. EGBERTZ 1 e 2 - The difference between de Keyser's pictorial conception
and Pietersz.'s isobvious: the earlier work concentrates exclusively on external
coherence,while the later work sets the groundwork for internal coherence
among at least a few of the figures. Alois Riegl, Group Portraits, p. 241
DR. VAN DER MEER - In the backgound of that painting one of the doctors
holds a sheet of paper on which na anatomical figure is drawn or printed. The
origin of that image is uncertain, but the sheet held up in the left background of
the present painting is a familiar illustration from Andreas Vesaliuss De Humani
Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem (1543) Vermeer and the Delft School, 315

Nevertheless, Rembrandt's ultimate goal was to attain a perfectly resolved

external coherence with the viewer, which, as we have seen, is the indispensable raison d'tre of all group portrait painting. He must have realized early on
in his career that complete and well-defined external coherence meaning the
connection between the viewer and the figures depicted in the painting
depends on an already resolved internal coherence meaning a subordinate
relationship among the figures portrayed. Alois Riegl, Group Portraits, p. 253
Rather, his innovation was the greater degree of individuality in their
psychological connection(that is, attentiveness) in space and time. Whereas de
Keyser's Dr. Egbertsz. Is looking at the object of his demonstration,
Rembrandt's Dr. Tulp is lookinghis listeners straight in the eye. And these in
their turn, through their spotaneous movements and their show of emotion,
reveal an attentive, inner participation in the main action. Figures characterized
in this sort of lively,individualized way naturally seem more connected with each
other on a psy-chological level than do those portrayed with more objective,
generalizedexpressions of attentiveness, even in the hands of an artist like de
Keyser. Alois Riegl, Group Portraits, p. 258
Tulp seems caught in the midst of uttering a Word, no doubt something about
how wonderfully God made the man. His left hand is raised, perhaps as a
tribute to the surgeonss guild which He was the anatomical lecturer: the Greek
cheirourgia meant working with the hand, especially the practice of surgery.
- Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.133
But IF we are led to believe we are witnessing an actual event, we are
deceived, since the dissection invariably began with the stomach and not the
hand. - Christopher White, Rembrandt, p.30
By a Nice stroke of irony, the victim, Who as usual was a criminal, was also a
native of Leiden Who had been hanged for robbery with violence.
Christopher White, Rembrandt, p.30
Most anatomy regulations therefore suggested that demonstrations be
performed only on the bodies of exectued criminals of low birth Who came from
outside the city, so that relatives Who were citizens would not be offended Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.36
DR. DEYMAN - The Anatomy Book records that On January 28 1656 there
was punished with the rope Joris Fonteyn of Diest, Who by the whorshipful
lords of the Law was granted to us as na anatomical specimen. On the 29th Dr
Johan Deyman made his first demonstration on him in the threatre of the
Anatomy, three lessons altogether. It was probably this festive occasion that
Rembrandt recorded for posterity in his second and last Anatomy Lesson, which
represents the dissection of the brain followgin the removal of the skull here
seen in the hands of the surgeons assistant. And this time we can be
reasonably certain that na illustration to Vesalius treatise provided the artist with

the information He required for depicting the dissected part of the anatomy.
Christopher White, Rembrandt, p.164
In The Lesson of Dr. Deyman the foreshortened body at the centre of the
composition is reminiscente of The Descent from the Cross of Borgianni, of
the school of Caravaggio, or of an early work, The Dead Christ by Mantegna.
- Paul Hamlyn, The Life and Times of Rembrandt, p.65
A aparncia horrvel da pintura um resultado acidental do seu estado, que
concentra a ateno mais na dissecao do que no cirurgio e seus
discpulos. Douglas Mannering, A Arte de Rembrandt, p. 71
Nevertheless, Ruysch was well established. In the spring of 1670, He again
gave a series of public anatomy lessons, this time on the body of Pasquier
Jorisz van Iperen, who had been hanged the previous day. Ruysch gave five
demonstrations, from 30 March through 3 April. The first, on Sunday, attracted a
large audience, and yielded Record proceeds of 255 guilders. Advantage was
taken of this opportunity to immortalize Ruysch as praelector. The initiative was
taken by the officers of the guild, who wished to appear in the customary group
portrait. This had traditionally taken the form of an anatomy lesson, in which the
officers were portrayed as spectators at the dissection of a corpse, presided
over by the praelector. The guildhall was decorated with a number of such
portraits, the oldest dating from 1603. Luuc Kooijmans, Death Defied: The
Anatomy Lessons of Frederik Ruysch, p. 82
It was Frederick Ruysch, a fellow student of Swammerdams, Who developed
the Leiden methods to the highest pitch. Ruysch became perhaps the most
innovative anatomist of the late seveteenth century. - Harold J. Cook Matters
of Exchange, p.281
Backer portrayed Ruysch in the act of showing the inguinal canal in the
corpses left thigh, surrounded by six surgeons who paid for the honour of being
in the picture. Ruyschs hat is the only sign of their difference in standing. All
references to his public anatomy lesson of that year are lacking; it had served
only as the pretext for the painting. In the background Backer placed two
statues, one of which portrayed Asclepius, the Greco-Roman god of medicine
and the patron of surgeons, and the other Galen, or perhaps Apollo, god of art
and science. His painting found such favour that he received commissions for a
number of other group portraits, such as the members of the Collegium
Medicum and the regentesses of the orphanage. - Luuc Kooijmans, Death
Defied: The Anatomy Lessons of Frederik Ruysch, p. 83
For the composition of his anatomy lesson of Frederik Ruysch, AdriaanBacker
doubtless drew inspiration from the work of Rembrandt, though Backers corpse
looks far less dead and bloody than Rembrandts. The body is decidedly not

that of an executed criminal: it is nearly intact, and looks more like a sleeping
person than a cadaver. Backer thus demonstrated his ability to portray nudes, at
the same time alluding to the embalming technique for which Ruysch was
becoming increasingly famous. Luuc Kooijmans, Death Defied: The Anatomy
Lessons of Frederik Ruysch, p. 84
The praelector is dissecting the left superficial parts of the abdomen and upper
leg. In his right hand he has a lancet. The body is that of an idealized Young
man. This illustrates the profound change in artistic ideas. Backer obviously
agreed with Jan de Bisschop's strictures against those artists Who chose to
paint misshapen people instead of well-built youthful ones (Bolten 1985). In the
background of the painting, statues of Apollo and Aesculapius are seen. - B.
Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy lessons, p. 9
Another "Anatomy Lesson of Prof. Frederik Ruijsch" was painted by Johan van
Neck in 1683 (Fig. 7) The praelector is dissecting a newborn child. He is
demonstrating the blood vessels in the umbilical cord and the placenta. The
surgeons in the painting are: Anthony van Paamburg, Abel Horst, Pieter
Adriaansz, Andries Boekelman, Jean de Milly. The boy in the painting is the son
of the praelector: Hendrik Ruijsch. - B. Baljet, The Painted Amsterdam anatomy
lessons, p. 10
DR. GRAVEZANDE "The most familiar such figure in Delft is, of course, the
microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723), who for a time lived next
door to the anatomist Cornelis's-Gravezande (16321-1691). Van Leeuwenhoek
appears as an onlooker in the upper right corner of Cornelis de Man's Anatomy
Lesson of Dr.'s Gravezande of 1681 [...]." Vermeer and the Delft School, 490
DR. WILLEM ROELL O mais original e interessante pintor holands de retratos
e de quadros de gnero do sculo XVIII Cornelis Troost. - Seymour Slive,
Pintura Holandesa 1600-1800, p. 311
DR. WILLEM ROELL Lamentavelmente, os principais se deterioraram. Lio
de anatomia do dr. Willem Roell, feita em 1728 (Museu Histrico de
Amsterdam), que mostra o cirurgio-professor descrevendo a anatomia do
joelho a membros da guilda de cirurgies de Amsterd, foi severamente
cortada apenas a parte central foi preservada e a camada de tinta est muito
desgastada. - Seymour Slive, Pintura Holandesa 1600-1800, p. 312
PROF. PETRUS CAMPER The praelector demonstrates in a head and neck
specimen a dissection of the neck muscles and nerves. B. Baljet p. 10
Anatomy made possible to understand the functions of the observable parts, to
asses their relationships with each other and, supplemented by reason, to
probe into the causes of things. - Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.36
From long before the time of Vesalius, illustratos of anatomical books had
made a point of weaving a personification of death into their pictures usually

in the form of a skeleton, as in the popular dance of death genre. In the

famous frontispiece to Vesaliuss De fabrica itself, a human skeleton presides
over the show in which onlookers struggle for vantage points from which to see
the opened corpse. A dog on the lower right is held back, presumably wishing to
devour the scraps from the dissecting table, emphasizing that our bodies are
mere flesh. - Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.165
The title Page of Vesalius Fabrica shows a particularly potent image of a
dissection, with its animated crowd of spectators watching the great anatomist
as He indicates the opened belly of a female corpse. The scene is set within a
circular architectural space with elaborate Corinthian columns and na
ornamental frieze reminiscent of a church. Dissections were often carried out in
churches in this period until the construction of special dissection theatres. The
first Dutch anatomy theatre at Leiden, constructed by Dr Pieter Paauw c.1593,
was often shown in engravings. It is usually depicted with skeletons of animals
as well as humans, a central case containing surgical instruments, and often
Latin text Nosce te Ipsum which established the religious context for anatomical
knowledge. The anatomy lesson became a subject for large-scale oil painting in
Holland in the late 17th century, most famously Rembrandts Anatomy Lesson of
Dr. Tulp - Deanna Petherbridge, The Quick and the Dead, p.34
Anatomy lessons were rare and noteworthy events in the early seventeenth
century. It was onlyn in 1552 that the Amsterdam guild of surgeons broke away
from thei colleagues in cutlery the slipper, clog, and skate makers. Vermeer
and the Delft School, 315
Sc XVI At the same time, public anatomy lessons had become exciting
events in many cities and universities, teaching that the human frame could
reveal itself to the eyewitness. Well-placed people, even influential religious
authorities, had certainly believed for some time that important truths could be
found in bodies. Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.35
A dissecao, proibida durante a Idade Mdia, era agora uma respeitvel
prtica profissional, embora os ltimos cadveres fossem os de criminosos
executados. - Douglas Mannering, A Arte de Rembrandt, p. 36
Spoilage was more of a problem at anatomy lessons, which accounts for the
sprigs of aromatic plants (one of them laurel), sniffing balls, and burning incense
brought by the distinguished doctors to the first circle of this olfactory hell.
Anatomy lessons were generally held in winter when the corpse (of an executed
criminal) would be less immediately offensive; it was for this same unaesthetic
reason that the contents of the abdominal cavity were removed at the start of
the show. Vermeer and the Delft School, 315
Because the bodies decomposed rapidly in hot weather, such dissections could
be carried out only in the winter, but even then, scented candles and aromatic
plants were needed to combat the odour. The order of dissection was
determined by the rate at which the various organs decomposed. The first to be

examined were the organs of the abdomen, followed by the contents of the
thoracic cavity and the cranial cavity, then the sexual organs, and finally the
muscles, nerves, joints and bones. Luuc Kooijmans, Death Defied: The
Anatomy Lessons of Frederik Ruysch, p. 8
It seems that Rembrandt decided to leave Leiden for Amsterdam not only
because of the greater prospects offered by the city, but also because He knew
that He was shortly to be entrusted with na important comission. The date 1632
which apperars on his firts masterpiece The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp,
supports this theory. Mario Lepore, The Life and Times of Rembrandt, p.24
Booming cities like Amsterdam attracted many physicians Who wished to make
their reputations and fortunes. - Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.148
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp was undoubtedly a success. Tulp himself may
well have recommended Rembrandts services to his many influential friends
and He was fast becoming the fashionable portrait painter of Amsterdam.
Christopher White, Rembrandt, p.45
Another member of the medical fraternity Who was in touch with Rembrandt
was Arnold Tholinx. He was Inspector of the Medical Colleges in Amsterdam.
By marriage He was related to Jan Six and Nicolaas Tulp, and He lived next
door to the latter in a house on the Keizersgracht. But his connections with the
artist did not stop there because He was succeeded in hi job by Johannes
Deyman. In the very same year Rembrandt painted and probably etched
Tholinxs protrait, He painted his Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deyman. Cai it have
been fortuitous that they both commissioned Rembrandt in the same year?
Christopher White, Rembrandt, p.158
If most of the modern interpretations of Rembrandts painting of Tulps anatomy
lesson of 1632 are correct, Tulp wanted his audience to leave convicend of the
wonderful ways in which god had created the human frame. Among other
Wonders was the construction that allowerd thumb to oppose forefinger, making
the human hand possible, giving rise to all the human entreprise that followed
therefrom. - - Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.171
As the wars of the Dutch Revolt devastated the southern provinces, the Center
of mercantile Exchange for northwestern Europe shifted from Antwerp to
Middelburg, Delft, Rotterdam, Enkhuizen, and especially Amsterdam. Like other
northern cities, Amsterdam benefited from the wealth and knowledge brought to
it by refugees from Antwerp and other cities of the south. - Harold J. Cook
Matters of Exchange, p.57
Dissections were few and far between this was only Tulps second and they
were treated as festive occasion attended by large crowds. Christopher
White, Rembrandt, p.29

TULP He was a scholar of repute, and a member of the Muiden circle. His
artistic tasted were narrow, and He was a religious bigot, but he was useful to
know, and it can hardly have been coincidence that the medical profession were
among the most faithful of Rembrandts patrons throughout his life.
Christopher White, Rembrandt, p.31
However powerful He might have become, then, even a Tulp represented onlyn
one part of a complex and highly competitive commercial and intellectual
environment. He did not always get his way. He was a physician in a
municipality with many kinds of medical practitioners, a strict Calvinist moralist
during a period when the libertines where ofter in Power. - Harold J. Cook
Matters of Exchange, p. 135
Havia tradies visuais e emblemticas para o uso de uma vela acesa como
metfora de um indivduo abnegado que se consome ajudando os outros. A
ideia usada no retrato feito por Pickenoy do Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, em que o
mdico, protagonista da celebrada primeira lio de anatomia pintada por
Rembrandt, mostrado numa clara luz diurna apontando para uma vela acesa;
a incrio entalhadada num parapeito de pedra, extrada de um livro de
emblemas do perodo, proclama: Eu me consumo a servio de outros. Seymour Slive, Pintura Holandesa 1600-1800, p. 307
Although He was not yet forty when He commissioned his most famous portrait
from Rembrandt, Tulp was a leading figura in his city, one of the regenten: He
not only served for fifty years as one of the two dozen members on the city
council but gained great wealth indeed, He was the first person in Amsterdam
to ride in a horse and a coach. In years to come He would use his influence to
bring in new municipal statutes to regulate medical practice and practitioners. Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.134
The young Tulp matriculated in the medical faculty at Leiden in 1611 at the
fairly late age of about eighteen, followed by his brother, Who whent to Leiden
to study theology. Because of the death of his father in 1612, He did not travel
for further education, although his family could afford to keep him in the
university until He completed his studies in 1614. At Leiden, He absorbed
anatomy and botany from Pauw and pratical, Hippocratically oriented medicine
from Reinier Bontius, Otto Heurnius, and Aelius Everhardus Vostius. Like his
mentors in Leiden, Tulp took a deep intereset in natural history and clinical
medicine. - Harold J. Cook Matters of Exchange, p.155
Tanto do ponto de vista microscpico como macroscpico, a anatomia
desenvolveu-se muito na Holanda. Moacyr Scliar, A Paixo Transfomada, p.
84
The beginnings of a global science ocurred during the period of the rise of a
global economy. Surely that was no coincidence. - Harold J. Cook Matters of
Exchange, p.416