All About Anatomy of Doctor Deyman by Rembrandt

Title of Artwork: “Anatomy of Doctor Deyman”

Artwork by Rembrandt

Year Created 1656

Summary of Anatomy of Doctor Deyman

Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman (sometimes spelled Deyman) was painted in 1656, but only a small portion of it survives today; it can be seen in the Amsterdam Museum.

It’s a group photo of Dr. Jan Deijman’s dissection of a brain (1619-1666). A fire in 1723 destroyed much of the canvas, thus the painting had to be recut to its current dimensions, but a preparatory sketch depicts the entire cast.

All About Anatomy of Doctor Deyman

The brain of a recently killed felon is being dissected by Dr. Deijman in this artwork of Flemish tailor Joris “Black Jack” Fonteijn (1633/34-1656). On the left is Dr. Deijman’s helper, the surgeon Gijsbert Calkoen (1621-1664), holding the severed head of the deceased patient.

Like the foreshortening in Mantegna’s Lamentation of Christ, which Rembrandt would have been familiar with through prints, he used exaggerated foreshortening to show the perspective of the corpse to give the viewer the impression of standing in front of the dissecting table.

Information Citations:

En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.