The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
The object
the dissected forearm of the corpse and the tendons Tulp is pointing to
The story
Rembrandt was 26 when the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons commissioned this group portrait of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp dissecting the corpse of a criminal, Aris Kindt, executed that day. Tulp points at the flexor muscles of the forearm — but they are painted attached to the wrong bones. The error is repeated in the open Vesalius text in the upper-right. The most famous anatomy painting in Western art teaches anatomy that doesn't exist. Now at Mauritshuis, The Hague @mauritshuis
The reel
The painting
