Teaching watercolor of a bone tumor and a microscopic view of the tissue
Description:
Possibly from local Boston patient Large watercolor showing different views of a bone tumor. The top section shows four different views of the tumor as a whole, including a colored exterior view and a colored dissected view. The lower part of the painting has a round microscopic view of the tissue, with a black border. Inside the microscopic view are various kinds of cells and tissues, and 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.
