Following are depictions of medieval doctors at work. I’ve attempted to categorize them by type (at least, as they can be discerned from their iconographical context): physicians, surgeons, dentists, and quacks.
PHYSICIANS
- A pharmacopeial compilation (Brit. Lib. Harley 1585), third quarter of the 12th century
- A medical and herbal collection (Brit. Lib. Sloane 1975), last quarter of the 12th century
- A discussion between two doctors and a student, De materia medica, 1224
- Fols. 23r, 59v, and 103r, from a 13th century medical miscellany (St. John's College MS D.24)
- A physician taking the pulse of a woman patient, a medical miscellany (Brit. Lib. Arundel 295, fol. 256), 13th century
- Marginal scene with a physician, the Cuerden Psalter (PML M.756, fol. 79r), c. 1270
- Several illustrations in Le Régime du corps (Brit. Lib. Sloane 2435), c. 1285
- Several illustrations in The Articella (Brit. Lib. Harley 3140), first quarter of the 14th century
- Several illustrations in Chirurgia (Brit. Lib. Sloane 1977), first quarter of the 15th century
- A physician-grotesque, the Luttrell Psalter (Brit. Lib. Add. 42130, fol. 147r), c. 1325-1340
- St. Cosmas and St. Damian, The Golden Legend (BNF Fr. 241, fol. 258), 1348
- A physician with a urinal, Weltchronik (ÖNB 2921, fol. 151r), c. 1397-1398
- Doctor and patient(s), De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 216, fol. 53v), 14th-15th century
- Doctor and patient(s), De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 16993, fol. 39v), 14th-15th century
- Double tympanum with St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Bremen, c. 1400
- Hippocrates?, The City of God (BNF Fr. 20, fol. 140), beginning of the 15th century
- The Physician in The Ellesmere Chaucer, c. 1410; see also his description in the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales
- Aesculapius, L’Épître Othéa (Brit. Lib. Harley 4431, fol. 113v), c. 1410-1414
- On anatomy, De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 9141, fol. 55), first quarter of the 15th century
- Doctors and patients, De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 22531, fol. 115), first quarter of the 15th century
- Doctor and patient(s) (fol. 47) and doctor and patient (fol. 91v), De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 22534), first quarter of the 15th century
- St. Cosmas and St. Damian by Rogier van der Weyden
- A woman physician treats a female patient, a medical treatise (Brit. Lib. Sloane 6, fol. 177v), second quarter of the 15th century
- Calandrino's imaginary illness, The Decameron (BNF It. 63, fol. 264v), 1427
- Calandrino's imaginary illness, The Decameron (BNF Fr. 239, fol. 250), second quarter of the 15th century
- Calandrino's imaginary illness, The Decameron (BNF Arsenal 5070, fol. 328r), 1432
- Fols. 53v, 54v, and 105v, Régime du corps (PML M.165), c. 1440-1450
- Doctor and patient, De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 135), c. 1445-1450
- A physician reads a book while his apprentice prepares medicine (fol. 16v), a physician examines a man with a swelling in his armpit (fol. 44r), a physician pulls a sword from a man's thigh (fol. 110r), a physician treats a patient with an ulcerated wound on his leg (fol. 171r), and (fol. 207r), La grande chirurgie (MMW 10 C 16), c. 1450
- Alexander is sick, fols. 26 and 111v, History of Alexander (BNF Fr. 9342), mid-15th century
- Doctor and patients, De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 22533, fol. 45), c. 1450-1474
- Alexander is sick, History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 47, fol. 46v), second half of the 15th century
- The siege of Kyreschata (Khodzhent), History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 49, fol. 16v), second half of the 15th century
- Doctor and patient(s), De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 134, fol. 111), second half of the 15th century
- Tiberius names Caligula emperor, the so-called Chronicle of Badouin d'Avesnes (BNF Fr. 279, fol. 169), second half of the 15th century
- Charles VI and his doctor, Froissart's Chronicles (BNF Fr. 2646, fol. 164), second half of the 15th century
- Alexander poisoned (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 137v), Antiochus I lovesick (BNF Fr. 50, fol. 149v), Zardan feigns an illness (BNF Fr. 51, fol. 180), the doctor and the prefect's son (BNF Fr. 51, fol. 257), Speculum historiale, 1463
- Illustrations in the Schachzabelbuch of Konrad von Ammenhausen, 1467: fols. 214 and 259
- Tristan is sick, Tristan de Léonois (BNF Fr. 112(3), fol. 139), c. 1470
- An ill man in bed, with a doctor examaning a urine flask, Froissart's Chronicles (Brit. Lib. Harley 4379, fol. 125v), c. 1470-1472
- Famous doctors, Libro de componere herbe et fructi (BNF It. 1108, fol. 7v), c. 1471
- Portrait of Pietro d'Abano, 15th century
- A fable: the king of Armenia goes hunting, The Knight Cifar (BNF Fr. 36, fol. 97v), fourth quarter of the 15th century
- A doctor with a urinal, De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 218, fol. 111), fourth quarter of the 15th century
- A doctor and patients, Régime de Santé (Brit. Lib. Royal 19 B X, fol. 2), last quarter of the 15th century
- Physicians examine a patient, Livre des proprietez des choses (Brit. Lib. Royal 15 E II, fol. 77v), 1482
- Alexander is sick, Toison d'Or (BNF Fr. 138, fol. 41v), 15th-16th century
- Alexander is sick, The History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 708, fol. 24v), 15th-16th century
- Alexander and Ptolemy are sick, The History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 711, fol. 25), 15th-16th century
- Amnon and Jonadab, a book of hours (PML H.5, fol. 86r), c. 1500
- Darius ill in bed, and a physician with a flask, Anabasis (Brit. Lib. Royal 19 C VI, fol. 20), c. 1506
- A doctor visits a patient, Fasciculo de medicina (Musée Condé MS XIIA33, fol. C6V), 1509
- A doctor with his patient, Abus du monde (PML M.42, fol. 55r), 1510
- The Ages of Man/November in a book of hours (PML M.813, fol. 17v), 1511-1520
- Portrait of Joris van Zelle by Bernard van Orley
- Portrait of Andrea Vesale by Titian, c. 1540-1576
- Detail from The Fountain of Youth by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1546
- Prudence by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
- The Doctor, Das Ständebuch, 1568
- Portrait of Doctor Rodrigo de la Fuente by El Greco, 1588-1589
- Portrait of Petrus Ricardus, 1592
SURGEONS
- A medical and herbal collection (Brit. Lib. Sloane 1975), last quarter of the 12th century
- A physician performs a head operation while the patient holds a bowl, a collection of medical texts (St. John's College MS D.24, fol. 113r), 13th century
- Bloodletting, the Luttrell Psalter (Brit. Lib. Add. 42130, fol. 61r), c. 1325-1340
- Brain surgery, Omne Bonum (British Library Royal 6 E VI, fol. 258v), c. 1360-1375
- Surgery, Wälsche Gast (PML G.54, fol. 29v), c. 1380
- Bloodletting, Régime du corps (PML M.165, fol. 19v), c. 1440-1450
- A dissection (fol. 56), De proprietatibus rerum (BNF Fr. 218, fol. 56), fourth quarter of the 15th century
- A barber with a fool, Abus du monde (PML M.42, fol. 55r), 1510
DENTISTS
- A dentist extracts a tooth, Omne Bonum (Brit. Lib. Royal 6 E VI, fol. 503v), c. 1360-1375
- A dentist's pliers, 15th century
- A dentist and his patient, Schachzabelbuch of Konrad von Ammenhausen, 1467
- Center panel of the Haywain Triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, 1500-1502
- The Dentist, Das Ständebuch, 1568
- A dentist extracts a tooth amidst a drawing of dancers, c. 1570
QUACKS |