Boer War: wounded soldiers being escorted off the hospital train at Durban from Ladysmith. Watercolour by F. Dadd, 1899.

Ambroise Paré, on the battlefield using a ligature for the artery of an amputated leg of a soldier. Wood engraving by Charles Maurand after E. Morin.

Gentlemen round a table at their club, smoking and drinking punch. Coloured mezzotint, late 18th century.

Crimean War: ambulance men collecting the wounded after the Battle of Inkermann. Wood engraving.

Boer War: Red Cross hospital train arriving at Durban. Process print by C.H. after F.C. Harrison after F. Dadd, 1899.

A surgeon is widening the chest wound of a soldier in order to remove an arrow, they are surrounded by a military encampment and a raging battle. Process print after a drawing by C. Maurer, c. 1594.

Army physicians vaccinating soldiers below decks on the SS. Bathhurst. Process print by C. Henschel after a drawing by C. Staniland after A. Cox.

Ailing soldiers queuing up to see the doctor in a military surgery. Coloured lithograph by G. Gostiaux after himself.

A medical consultation while a patient dies; a group of soldiers with a family; men in an artist's loft. Coloured lithograph c. 1840.

concept

Shop

Galleries and Reading Room

Library

Café

We’re undertaking research with website visitors to find out some more about you and what you thought about your visit. This survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!

What brought you to our website today?

Presumably an episode in the Napoleonic Wars, of which Lecomte made many depictions. In the background is a large city

Wounded foreigners outside the city walls being picked up by French soldiers and taken to a guarded fortress. Coloured lithograph by G. Engelmann after H. Lecomte, 1820.

Boer War: first aid to the wounded on the battlefield at Colenso. Process print after J.J. Waugh.

In the early nineteenth century there were several rival medical systems, including Brunonianism, the system of Broussais, phrenology and homoeopathy, in addition to variations on traditional western medicine. Brunonianism, the theory of John Brown (1735-1788), regarded most illnesses as due to a deficit of stimulation, requiring treatment with medicines based on opium or alcohol. In France, François Joseph Victor Broussais (1772-1838) proposed a theory of irritability which was to be controlled by purging and especially bloodletting. Brown acquired a European reputation, especially after his death. Broussais tried to ridicule Brown and his followers in many of his verbose writings. The short-lived success of their competing systems illustrates the fatal attractiveness of over-simple theories. This drawing, probably by a French or German hand, shows a battle between the rival partisans of Brown (on the left) and Broussais (on the right): they are identified by military standards (flags) inscribed "Brown" (left) and "Broussai<s>" (right)

1 drawing : pen and ink ; image 35.4 x 45.2 cm

A fierce battle between the supporters of John Brown (Bruno), in favour of treatment with stimulants, and those of F.J.V. Broussais, in favour of bloodletting. Pen drawing.

One in a series of lithographs by Jean-Henri Marlet that were published in Paris in 1817. They look back at the recently finished Napoleonic wars, representing stock incidents of war with spirit but with little affection. This one, perhaps set in Italy or Spain, features four episodes which together form a concise study of the ways in which the suffering of the wounded could be relieved, and by whom. The title "Les bons camarades" (good comrades) implies mutual self-help and improvisation among the soldiers of a defeated army, rather than confidence in aid from a professional team of stretcher-bearers

1 print : lithograph, with watercolour ; image 25.9 x 20.8 cm

Wellcome uses cookies.

Military uniforms

Images

Works

Wounded foreigners outside the city walls being picked up by French soldiers and taken to a guarded fortress. Coloured lithograph by G. Engelmann after H. Lecomte, 1820.

Boer War: first aid to the wounded on the battlefield at Colenso. Process print after J.J. Waugh.

A fierce battle between the supporters of John Brown (Bruno), in favour of treatment with stimulants, and those of F.J.V. Broussais, in favour of bloodletting. Pen drawing.

Two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade off the battlefield. Coloured lithograph by C. de Lasteyrie after J.H. Marlet, 1817.

Schleswig-Holstein War: an ambulance arriving at a battlefield in Düppel 18 April 1864. Lithograph by W. Funke, 1864.

Today’s opening times

Wellcome uses cookies.

Military uniforms

Images

Works

Wounded foreigners outside the city walls being picked up by French soldiers and taken to a guarded fortress. Coloured lithograph by G. Engelmann after H. Lecomte, 1820.

Boer War: first aid to the wounded on the battlefield at Colenso. Process print after J.J. Waugh.

A fierce battle between the supporters of John Brown (Bruno), in favour of treatment with stimulants, and those of F.J.V. Broussais, in favour of bloodletting. Pen drawing.

Two soldiers carrying a wounded comrade off the battlefield. Coloured lithograph by C. de Lasteyrie after J.H. Marlet, 1817.

Schleswig-Holstein War: an ambulance arriving at a battlefield in Düppel 18 April 1864. Lithograph by W. Funke, 1864.

Wellcome Collection

Today’s opening times