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  • Article

Revelations of blindness in the Middle Ages

Medieval texts, from Islamic medical treatises to Christian books of miracles, reveal surprisingly varied and complex experiences of blindness. But when medieval scholar Jude Seal experienced visual impairment themselves, they gained an even deeper understanding of the lives they were studying.

  • Interview

Inside the mind of Ayurvedic Man’s curator, Bárbara Rodriguez Muñoz

The choices a curator makes – what goes in? what stays out? why? – are often as fascinating as the exhibition itself.

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Images

  • Plate 76. Surgical instruments - female reproductive organs.
  • Veterinary order form / Alfred Cox (Surgical) Limited.
  • A surgeon performing a suprapubic lithotomy on a boy. Lithograph by R. Lemoine, 1899.
  • A surgeon performing a suprapubic lithotomy on a boy. Lithograph by R. Lemoine, 1899.
  • A surgeon opening an abcess on the arm of a reclining man who is leaning on the lap of the surgeon's assistant. Colour stipple engraving by S. Mulinari, 1796, after G.F. Barbieri, il Guercino.
  • Egyptian Surgical Instruments: B.C. 146
  • A male patient is hanging by his feet from an apparatus, a large worm (?) is passing from his mouth into a bowl, assisted by a surgeon and two assistants. Process print after a woodcut, 1497.
  • An operator treating a patient's foot; a crowd of people is gathered around watching the work. Line engraving by P. Quast.
  • An itinerant surgeon extracting stones from a man's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity) Line engraving by L. van Leyden, 1524.
  • An itinerant surgeon extracting stones from a man's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity) Line engraving after L. van Leyden.
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