An itinerant surgeon extracting stones from a man's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity), they are surrounded by a group of people. Pencil drawing by P. Quast, 1645.

  • Quast, Pieter Jansz., 1606-1647.
Date:
1645
Reference:
21093i
  • Pictures
  • Online

Available online

view An itinerant surgeon extracting stones from a man's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity), they are surrounded by a group of people. Pencil drawing by P. Quast, 1645.

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

You can use this work for any purpose, as long as it is not primarily intended for or directed to commercial advantage or monetary compensation. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence. Read more about this licence.

Credit

An itinerant surgeon extracting stones from a man's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity), they are surrounded by a group of people. Pencil drawing by P. Quast, 1645. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Selected images from this work

View 2 images

About this work

Description

The images of a surgeon (often itinerant) making an incision in a patient's head in order to extract 'stones' (implying madness in the individual) do not represent an actual operation, but are allegorical scenes refering to the subduction of 'folly' (madness) from the body. See further Schupbach, loc. cit.

Publication/Creation

1645

Physical description

1 drawing on vellum : pencil ; image 25 x 29.3 cm

Contributors

Lettering

PQ 1645

References note

W. Schupbach, 'A new look at The cure of folly', Medical history, 1978, vol. 22, pp. 267-281

Reference

Wellcome Collection 21093i

Type/Technique

Subjects

Where to find it

  • LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores

Permanent link