Teaching watercolor of a mass on the femur near the knee and a microscopic view of the tissue
Description:
Possibly from a local Boston patient Large watercolor showing several views of a mass or tumor of the femur. In the upper left is a view of the patients right leg, showing the mass of the tumor beneath the skin above the knee. In the upper right is a cross section of the bone and surrounding tissue, painted in deep reds and yellows. In the bottom is a microscopic view of the various kinds of cells in the tissue, with a red blood cell for scale. Watercolor is framed in green sewn textile with metal grommets in each of the four corners.
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Notes:
Henry Jacob Bigelow employed artist Oscar Wallis exclusively from 1848 - 1854 to paint a series of large teaching watercolors to illustrate Bigelow's lectures at Harvard Medical School. Wallis painted the teaching diagrams from local subjects and from the atlases of established medical authorities. The effort cost Bigelow $6,000. In 1890 Bigelow presented the watercolors to Reginald H. Fitz to be used in the Harvard Medical School's Department of Anatomy. The watercolors were transferred into the Warren Anatomical Museum between 1890 and 1930.