Teaching watercolor of man with surgically dissected face and neck, 1848-1854
Description:
Teaching watercolor of man with surgically dissected face and neck. Man's head is turned to the side so only right eye, right ear, right side of nose, and right side of mouth are visible. Man has brown hair and is depicted with eyes closed. Skin has been removed from scalp line to ear to center of face, following nose and chin down to neck. Dissection shows internal muscles, tendons, and arteries, as well as fatty tissue beneath skin. There is brown cube and silver hook behind the man's head and blue cloth wrapped around his neck. 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.
