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In their haste the crowd has left an infant on the roadside; the person with leprosy walks by, ringing a bell

1 painting : watercolour, with gouache and pencil ; image 52 x 37.2 cm

People scrambling to get away from a person with leprosy. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

1 painting : watercolour, with gouache and pen

A provocative naked young woman lying on a bed, death (a cloaked skeleton) sits at her side, a naked man walks away from the bed with his head bowed, towards a throng of diseased and dying people; representing syphilis. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

The painting shows, half-realistically, half-allegorically, how an Edwardian sporting man of the world, characterised as such by his golf-clubs, souvenirs of the turf, and signs of good living, reacts to the revelation of his own infection with syphilis, a then treatable but incurable and potentially horrific venereal disease

1 painting : gouache ; board 52 x 70.5 cm

Syphilis. Gouache by Richard Tennant Cooper, 1912.

1 painting : watercolour, with gouache and pencil

A giant hand roaming through the dark streets of London, people and rats try to escape its grasp; representing bubonic plague. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

A ghostly skeleton trying to strangle a sick child; representing diphtheria. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

1 painting : watercolour, with gouache and chalk ; image 71.4 x 46.4 cm

The angel of death (a winged skeletal creature) drops some deadly substances into a river near a town; representing typhoid. Watercolour, 1912, after R. Cooper.

A giant claw pierces the breast of a sleeping naked woman, another naked woman swoops down and stabs the claw with a knife; representing the surgical treatment of breast cancer. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

1 painting : gouache on artist's board ; board 59 x 47.4 cm

Henry Hill Hickman performing experiments on suspended animation. Watercolour and gouache by Richard Tennant Cooper, ca. 1912.

Tuberculosis (TB) of bones or lungs is a disease affecting young as well as old, causing exhaustion, fever, wasting and early death. The disease was very common in England around 1912 when Henry S. Wellcome commissioned this allegory of tuberculosis. It shows an emaciated young woman sitting on a balcony overlooking a Swiss or Italian valley. She does not have much more time in which to enjoy the beauty of this world, as Death grips her hand and tells her that it is time for her to depart.

1 painting : watercolour, with gouache and pencil ; image 41.7 x 45.5 cm

A sickly young woman sits covered up on a balcony; death (a ghostly skeleton clutching a scythe and an hourglass) is standing next to her; representing tuberculosis. Watercolour by R. Cooper, ca. 1912.

1 painting : watercolour, with gouache, bodycolour and pencil ; sheet 42.8 x 57 cm

An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments; representing the effects of chloroform on the human body. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

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People scrambling to get away from a person with leprosy. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

A provocative naked young woman lying on a bed, death (a cloaked skeleton) sits at her side, a naked man walks away from the bed with his head bowed, towards a throng of diseased and dying people; representing syphilis. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

Syphilis. Gouache by Richard Tennant Cooper, 1912.

A giant hand roaming through the dark streets of London, people and rats try to escape its grasp; representing bubonic plague. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

A ghostly skeleton trying to strangle a sick child; representing diphtheria. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

The angel of death (a winged skeletal creature) drops some deadly substances into a river near a town; representing typhoid. Watercolour, 1912, after R. Cooper.

A giant claw pierces the breast of a sleeping naked woman, another naked woman swoops down and stabs the claw with a knife; representing the surgical treatment of breast cancer. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

Henry Hill Hickman performing experiments on suspended animation. Watercolour and gouache by Richard Tennant Cooper, ca. 1912.

A sickly young woman sits covered up on a balcony; death (a ghostly skeleton clutching a scythe and an hourglass) is standing next to her; representing tuberculosis. Watercolour by R. Cooper, ca. 1912.

An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments; representing the effects of chloroform on the human body. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

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People scrambling to get away from a person with leprosy. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

A provocative naked young woman lying on a bed, death (a cloaked skeleton) sits at her side, a naked man walks away from the bed with his head bowed, towards a throng of diseased and dying people; representing syphilis. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

Syphilis. Gouache by Richard Tennant Cooper, 1912.

A giant hand roaming through the dark streets of London, people and rats try to escape its grasp; representing bubonic plague. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

A ghostly skeleton trying to strangle a sick child; representing diphtheria. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

The angel of death (a winged skeletal creature) drops some deadly substances into a river near a town; representing typhoid. Watercolour, 1912, after R. Cooper.

A giant claw pierces the breast of a sleeping naked woman, another naked woman swoops down and stabs the claw with a knife; representing the surgical treatment of breast cancer. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

Henry Hill Hickman performing experiments on suspended animation. Watercolour and gouache by Richard Tennant Cooper, ca. 1912.

A sickly young woman sits covered up on a balcony; death (a ghostly skeleton clutching a scythe and an hourglass) is standing next to her; representing tuberculosis. Watercolour by R. Cooper, ca. 1912.

An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments; representing the effects of chloroform on the human body. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

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Wellcome collection