Opisthotonus. (Tetanus), c.1809
Charles Bell (1774-1842)
Courtesy of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, GC 1.38.42
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| Anatomy Acts Object Guide No.62 Opisthotonus. (Tetanus), c.1809 Charles Bell (1774-1842) Courtesy of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, GC 1.38.42 |
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| In addition to anatomical illustrations, Bell also made drawings of patients’ suffering from injury or disease before he operated on them. He would later use the drawings to illustrate books or develop into oil paintings to use as teaching aids. This painting shows the condition of tetanus and is possibly the best known of Bell’s paintings. It is made up of three different studies of men suffering from the condition caused by bacteria infecting wounds. The soldiers had returned to Britain in 1809, where Bell attended them in Portsmouth, after the Battle of Corunna in Northern Spain, during the Napoleonic Wars. |
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