A physician taking the pulse of a young woman, while an old maid prepares gruel for her. Oil painting by Quirin Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam.

The patient, sitting in the centre, wears a white bonnet, a red cape lined with white fur, and a yellow satin dress. In her left hand she holds a letter, while her right she holds out to the physician who takes her pulse. On the right is a table covered with a Turkey rug: on it is the bowl of gruel which the old maid prepares, together with a pewter ewer and a dish. In the background, a bed with a canopy and curtains, and on the wall a landscape painting in a black frame

The physician's costume in pictures such as this has been identified by Gudlaugsson as archaic: in the hands of humorous painters like Jan Steen, such an archaism would no doubt have been satirical, but here it seems to be more respectful. The physician's practice--diagnosis from the speed, rhythm, and strength of the pulse--is derived from venerable ancient sources, and the physician is portrayed as someone who would have mastered the subtleties of the ancient writings

[Leiden]

1 painting : oil, on wood ; wood 34 x 27.8 cm

QB

S.J. Gudlaugsson, The comedians in the work of Jan Steen and his contemporaries, Soest 1975 (translated from his Komedianten bij Jan Steen en zijn tijdgenoten, the Hague 1945), on the physician's costume

Kristen Lippincott, The story of time, London 1999, no. 246

Exhibited in Netherlandish paintings, Wellcome Library, London, 20 January - 28 February 2003

Exhibited in Medicine Galleries, Science Museum, London, Autumn 2019 - 2022

Wellcome Collection 40476i