Teaching watercolor of arteries of the arm and hand, after Richard Quain's The Anatomy of the Arteries of the Human Body, 1848-1854
Description:
Teaching watercolor of arteries of the arm and hand. Painting has three images of surgically dissected arms. First image covers the length of the canvas on left side and depicts forearm and hand with skin removed, revealing ulnar and radial arteries. Other arteries, nerves, and muscles of the hand and arm are also shown. Second image covers approximately one half the length of the canvas on right side. Image shows arm from hand to slightly above wrist and depicts the deep palmar arch and radial artery, as well as other arteries and nerves. Third image depicts the superficial veins at the bend of the elbow in relation to the position of the brachial artery. Watercolor is framed in green sewn textile, with metal grommets in each of the four corners. Canvas has grid of squares as background beneath images.
The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all the materials in the collection. For use information, contact the Warren Anatomical Museum Curator at chm@hms.harvard.edu
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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.
