Surgical And Medical Treatment In Art

Abstract

This is a fascinating compilation of sixty-six paintings chosen by the authors to demonstrate the relationship between medicine and art from 1275 BC to 2002. Paintings are taken from all over the world and deal with all branches of medicine (including some which are no longer mainline practice!). Each painting is accompanied with a potted biography of the artist and a commentary which places the painting in its context: sociological, medical and artistic. Whilst I was aware of some of the paintings, many are new to me. I particularly liked the portrait of Sir Alexander Morrison by Richard Dadd – the father of Psychiatry in the United Kingdom. This is a stunning portrait by an inmate and is absolutely timeless in its style. The mediaeval representations of consultations between doctor and patient show just how much medicine has changed. Although on the previous page, the mediaeval surgery on haemorrhoids is a little distressing! In a wider sense, it is fascinating to see how our work has progressed over the years particularly since the Renaissance. It is also fascinating to see just how atmospheric so many of the paintings are – for example, that of Theodore Billroth operating by Sligenn. Here, we have a Master at work with seven scrubbed attendants and at least forty observers. Given the increasing numbers of medical students expected in our own medical school in Belfast, could this be the way of the future? I would commend this beautiful book to all with an interest in medical and surgical art: it is a fascinating read. Those of us who has been in clinical practice for many years will have undoubtedly encountered the patient who despite our best intentions is never cured or relieved of their symptoms by conventional medicines. Then one day they come into your consulting room and announce that they have been to an alternative practitioner, who has prescribed homeopathic medicine and this has miraculously cured them. Book Reviews Due to several experiences like this, I looked into the possibility of prescribing homeopathic medicine and I consulted the available textbooks. None really attempted to look at the various homeopathic medicines on a scientific basis. One was expected to believe that they all worked because the author stated that they did. However, at that time I wish I had had a book like this, which does attempt to try and bring a scientific basis to …