ALMA Culture&Medicine - Vol 1. N1 - November 2014 -
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (Rembrandt, 1632) Prof. Dr. Alfredo E. Buzzi Full Professor of Radiology. School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires.
Very few physicians attain immortality by virtue of their views instead of their actions. Such was the weird destination of Nicolaes Tulp, a man that is remembered as the demonstrator in the famous “Anatomy Lesson” painting by Rembrandt. Unfortunately we have overlooked his significant medical achievements. The life of Nicolaes Tulp
After his death, Aelius Vorstius became the Professor of Botany and Medicine but his interests and writings were
Nicolaes Tulp was born Claes Pieter or Nicolaus Petrus in
extraordinarily diverse. He studied history, archaeology,
Amsterdam (figure 1) on October 11th, 1593. He adopted the
marine life, heraldry and numismatic. Of great imagination, he
name “Tulp”, which in Dutch means tulip, at some moment
was one of the first men that suggested enlarging coastal lands
before his 38 birthday. The tulip became his emblem and
through pumping.
th
the shape of this flower was carved on the stone façade of his mansion.
Tulp was undoubtedly stimulated by talented teachers. After graduating, he practiced surgery and general medicine
Nicolaes was the youngest of four children in a well-off family. His father, Pieter Dirks, was a prosperous merchant active in civic affairs. There is not much information about Tulp’s childhood. He joined the Leyden Lyceum (figure 2) where he later studied medicine (from 1611 to 1614). His great lecture about the relation between body and soul was praiseworthy. In 1614, he presented the 24 propositions derived from a thesis name “The Cholera Humida”. Some of his professors at the School of Medicine of the
in Amsterdam. Soon after, and in order to meet the huge demand of consultations, he started using a small carriage to visit his patients. He became the first physician in the city using a carriage. Never had he denied visiting a patient, and he used to do it free of charge. His opinion was very well respected. In 1617 he married Aafge Van der Voegh. He had a happy and productive marriage but his wife died eleven years later. With five young children, Tulp married his second wife, the daughter of the Major of Outshoorn, and she bore him three children.
University of Leyden (figure 3) were Reinier Bontius (figure 4), Pieter Paauw (figure 5) and Aelius Vorstius (figure 6). Reinier
Due to his interests, skills and opulence, Tulp had a strong
Bontius, son of a famous physician, was a philosophy and
participation in the city’s civic affairs. In 1622, he was appointed
medicine professor and physician of Prince Frederick Hendrik
judge and member of the City Council.
and Prince Maurits’ Court. Unfortunately, his writings have not survived. Paauw, who was a distinguished botanist and
The practice of anatomical public demonstrations was
anatomist, wanted to convert Leyden into an anatomy center
established in Amsterdam in 1550. In 1555, Phillip II, King of
and he obtained a Royal permission to dissect criminal’s
Spain and Count of Holland, decided to concede the Surgeons
corpses (another form of punishing criminals’ actions). Paauw influenced on the construction of an amphitheater, which he used for over nineteen years to dissect male corpses and animals. Dutch anatomists had to wait until 1720 to be able to use female corpses. He designed the botanical gardens of Leyden and was a prosperous writer.
Guild one corpse per year. Due to the complexity of both the process for obtaining corpses and the relationship among judges, such demonstrations were left under the control of the city’s Major and the judges who also had to assign a “Prelector” (dissector). Dissectors are qualified anatomists and recognized municipal figures. Dr. Maarten Jansz Koster (Aeditus) was the
ALMA Culture&Medicine - Editorial Alfredo Buzzi - www.editorialalfredobuzzi.com
Page _ 9
ART AND MEDICINE