The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman
Year 1656
Dimensions 100 cm × 134 cm (39 in × 53 in)
Location Hermitage Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Preparatory sketch for the work.

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (alternative spelling Deyman) is a 1656, fragmentary painting by Rembrandt, now in Amsterdam Museum. It is a group portrait showing a brain dissection by Dr Jan Deijman (1619-1666). Much of the canvas was destroyed in a fire in 1723 and the painting was subsequently recut to its present dimensions, though a preparatory sketch shows the full group.

The painting shows Dr. Deijman performing a brain dissection on the cadaver of an executed criminal, the Flemish tailor Joris "Black Jack" Fonteijn (1633/34-1656). Dr. Deijman's assistant, the surgeon Gijsbert Calkoen (1621-1664), is seen on the left, holding the top of the dead man's skull.

The perspective of the corpse is depicted with exaggerated foreshortening to give the viewer a sense of standing in front of the dissection table, similar to the foreshortening in Mantegna's Lamentation of Christ, which Rembrandt would have been familiar with through prints.

See also

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