Old Medical Treatments

Engravings illustrating historical surgery and medical practices, portraying the challenges of healthcare in earlier centuries.

Woodcut of a bedside scene in a medical setting with physicians surrounding the patient. By Walter Ryff. Dated 1548

A surgeon bleeding a man's head, he is aided by two assistants, a woman (the patient's wife ) appears anxious. Engraving, 1586.

Header. Man is helped by a doctor or heater to a wound to his arm, he shouts it out of the pain, his wife dein stunning to the back. There is a mocking fresh under the print.

medicine treatment clyster woodcut coloured Southern Germany circa 1550 private collection,

Woodcut of a bedside scene in a medical setting with physicians surrounding the patient. By Walter Ryff. Dated 1548

Man at a doctor. In a departure, a doctor serves or operates the foot of a man who sits in a chair and lets his foot rest on a block of wood. The patient draws a pained face. A second man observes the treatment behind his table. A man in a storage space in the background.

The surgery. Copy without initials from the publisher. A surgery makes an incision behind the ear of a man sitting in front of him. Five lines of caption in Dutch.

The Phrenologist

A group of physicians trying to diagnose a young woman's illness in a scene from Molière's L'amour médecin. Etching attributed to G. Schouten after J.B. Molière.

surgeon treats the foot of a male patient, Wounds and injuries, Surgical instruments and equipment, Treatment in the 17th, century, Netherlands, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original..

medicine treatment bloodletting venesection woodcut by Hans Weiditz (um 1500 - 1536) from ""Ein nutzlich Regiment der Gesundtheit"" by Luis Lobera de Avila Augsburg Germany 1531,

A physician holds up a glass of urine in a hospital. Pen drawing by A.J.E. Terzi.

Man at a doctor. In a departure, a doctor serves or operates the foot of a man who sits in a chair and lets his foot rest on a block of wood. The patient draws a pained face. A second man observes the treatment behind his table. A man in a storage space in the background.

Man at a doctor; Vre, Seca, Purga, Cura Chirurge! Dolori. In a departure, a doctor serves or operates the foot of a man who sits in a chair and lets his foot rest on a block of wood. The patient draws a pained face. A second man observes the treatment behind his table. A man in a storage space in the background.

The birth of the Prince of Wales, 1686, 1689 print Kraamkamer with with Queen Maria of Modena in the childbed, from a door the poor child, Jacobus Frans Eduard, Prince of Wales, is brought into the room, June 10, 1686. Northern Netherlands paper etching / engraving woman giving birth (lying-in)

A couple come to visit the sick people in a hospice, the man attempts to feed one with some nourishment. Etching.

Dentistry in 17th century France. While the 'dentist' is pulling the man's tooth his assistant is picking the patient's purse.

The surgery; The ear operation; The stone cutter. Copy in mirror image. A surgery makes an incision behind the ear of a man sitting in front of him.

A woman surgeon and her assistant cupping a patient. Etching by C. Dusart, 1695.

Medicine, anatomy, surgery, The shelves in the office are full of bottles, a doctor pours a liquid called sagesse into the mouth of a patient sitting on a dresser. Another practitioner holds another patient on a wooden stretcher while his head is placed in a furnace from which all follies, vices and fantasies are exorcised. Mental illness, psychology, psychiatry, circa 1600, Historical, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original.

A barber-surgeon performing an operation. Facsimile of a 17th-century engraving by Cornelis de Wael. Sciences & Lettres au Moyen Age et a l'epoque de la Renaissance. Paris, 1877.

A patient is pinned down and involuntarily castrated Date: Seventeenth century

Illustration of birth by caesarian section from Scipione Mercurio 'La Commare o Raccoglitrice ...' Verona, 1642. Mercurio recommended caesarian section in cases of contracted pelvis. This important Italian work on obstetrics was first published in 1596.

Torture of a witch during a highly embarrassing interrogation. Her hands are squeezed between wedges, torturer, another woman is trapped in the stretching board, c. 1700, Germany, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from an original of the period, Europe

Two surgeons amputating the leg and arm of the same patient who is being restrained by assistants. Pen drawing after an engraving, 1597.

Sick man lies lonely in bed while walking past two men.

Torture with stretching, torture chamber, Historical, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

A doctor taking the pulse of a gouty bachelor surrounded by the consequences of his life style. Mezzotint, ca. 1770.

'Amputation of leg without anaesthetic. Surgeon uses bow-saw to remove leg blow the knee while his assistant holds the foot. In background a man with well-padded fist stands ready to render the patient unconscious. From ''Veldt Boeck van den Chirugia Scheel-Hans'' Hans van Gersdorff (Amsterdam 1593)

Village Doctor, Cornelis Soart, 1679 - 1704 print In his practice, a village doctor treats a young patient on his head. This sits on a chair and holds a bowl under his chin. paper engraving barber; surgeon

Miraculous healing from Jeske Klaes.

Care of the sick in a hospital, Jan Luyken, 1698 print Amsterdam paper etching hospital. physician, doctor

Physician applying a Bezoar stone to a victim of poisoning. The stone was extracted from the gall-bladder or stomach of an animal such as a goat or an antelope. Bezoar is a corruption of a Persian word meaning counter-poison. From Johannis de Cuba 'Ortus sanitatis', Strasbourt, 1483.

Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery, A doctor administering medicine to a sick man in bed and a surgeon amputating the leg of a seated patient under the supervision of a doctor, 1646, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

Arm surgery. A man is operated on his upper arm. He draws a pained face. A third man looks.

A surgeon treating a patient's foot, in the background another surgeon is examining a patient in a surgery. Lithograph after A. Brouwer.

Bitter medicine, doctor gives a child a spoonful of medicine that he doesn't like. The family watches, 1880, Germany, A doctor examines a child in a room while concerned family members watch, historical, authentic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th-century model, Record date not stated

Italy, 19th century - History of medicine - Itinerant tooth-drawer

René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec auscultating a tuberculous patient at the Necker Hospital, Paris. Gouache after T. Chartran.

A woman doctor examining a girl's finger. Engraving after J. Northcote.

. In the middle a doctor who has tweezers and a miniature heart in his hands. Around him lie the instruments of medicine. In the background the interior of a house. Left leaves a sick patient's bed. On the right a sick man is helped by his family. When a sick person is almost completely healed, a physician is considered every person and you would rather see him. The print has a Latin, German and Dutch caption and is part of a four-part series about the doors of the physician.

Doctors examining a sick man with a broken leg, Germany, facsimile of a woodcut from the Book of Miraculous Doctors, 1550, digitally restored reproduction of a 19th century original, exact original date not known, Europe

Bloodletting procedure circa 1718.

A surgeon operating on a man's head. Oil painting.

PHYSICIANS EXAMINING A SICK PERSON. Location: BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL-COLECCION. MADRID. SPAIN.

A surgeon attending to a man's arm. Oil painting after Adriaen Brouwer.

Syphilis In Europe. A woman in bed and a man sitting on a stool are covered with venereal disease lesions.

Woodblock engraving depicting a bloodletting scene. A physician bleeding a patient from the arm. Dated 16th century

A surgeon treating a patient's foot, in the background another surgeon is examining a patient in a surgery. Lithograph by E. Meyer after A.Brouwer.

Sick woman receives her lover; Pfuy Teufel, who strins.

Medicine against syphilis; Hyacvm et lves venerea; New inventions and discoveries; Nova Reperta. The brewing and administration of a medication against syphilis on the right is the tribe of the American medicinal plant guiacum through a servant in pieces minced. Other servants make a medicine from the bark pieces. On the left a bedroom where the medicine is administered to a patient by a doctor. A painting on the wall shows a brothel, a reference to the looseness that is at the origin of syphilis. The print has a Latin caption and is part of a ninetical series about new inventions and discoveries.

A surgeon extracting a guinea worm from a man's leg, in the background is a similar scene after a successful operation, a surgeon is holding a long worm. Photograph of a halftone after an engraving by J. Luyken.

German scurvy patients in the hospital flicker at the Murmanbahn

G.Dou / The Dentist / 1672

Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, Siena: physicians and surgeons treating the sick. Watercolour, 19--, after Domenico di Bartolo, 1441-1442.

Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery, Interior of an operating theatre with two surgeons, one draining blood from a man's arm and the other treating a man's back, c. 1700, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original

Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery, Interior of an operating room with a doctor draining blood from a man's arm and his wife watching, c. 1700, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th-century original.

Japanese doctor applying suction cups to a patient, Tokyo, Japan. Old 19th century engraved illustration Travel to Japan by Aime Humbert from El Mundo en La Mano 1879

Confidential maintenance.

The Miracle Doctor, historical illustration, ca. 1893

The dentist

Manuscript Gaddiano (circa 1542). Doctors and patients in a hospital. Miniature Painting. ITALY. TUSCANY. Florence. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Laurentian Library).

A tooth-drawer extracting a tooth from an agonized patient. Coloured chalk drawing.

An Irish peasant family is visited by the 'Fairy Doctor', believed to be able to cure afflictions that baffle the village doctor Date: 1859

MANUSCRITO GAPPIANO-HOSPITAL-. Location: LAURENZIANISCHE BIBLIOTHEK, FLORENZ, ITALIA.

'The Wounded Soldier', 1913.Artist: JR Smith

Black Death. Doctor visiting a patient. Fascilulus Medicinae by Johannes (D.C. 1490). Engraving 15th century. Italian School. (Photo by: PHAS/UIG)

Drawing blood, bloodletting or phlebotomy is a healing procedure that has been known since antiquity and was frequently used on humans and animals until the 19th century. A healing effect through bloodletting could only be proven for a few diseases. Historical, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original.

Gastroenterology, Medical - History

A surgeon operating on a man's foot. Oil painting after A. Brouwer.

Medical history. Doctor operating a calculation of the gallbladder. Xilografia. Hortus Sanitatis by Johannes de Cuba (1430-1503). 15th C. (Photo by: PHAS/UIG)

surgeon treats a patient's foot, in the background another surgeon examines a patient in a surgery, Surgical instruments and apparatus, Medical bottles, 17th century treatment, Netherlands, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original..

Medical History. 16th centry. Doctors with a patient. Engraving by Expositio Ugonis Senensis super Aforismos Hippocratis, 1518, Pavia. Colored.

A physician talking to a patient about his illness, the patient is holding a basket containing a urine flask. Engraving.

Hospitality of a farmer for travelers in the carriage who collapsed, in 1819, England, historically, digitally restored reproduction of a template from the 19th century, Record Date Not Stated 1f-4913402

Death bed of a grayish. Death bed of a gray-eared man on his side and counseling looking at a clock.

Trauma, Medical - History

Medical History. 16th centry. Doctors with a patient. Engraving by Expositio Ugonis Senensis super Aforismos Hippocratis, 1518, Pavia. Colored.

A patient on his deathbed, representing the death of the Venetian Republic. Etching, ca. 1797.

Horse doctor Sick Horse A Medicine, Johann Elias Ridinger, 1708 - 1767 print Augsburg paper etching horse. veterinarian

A surgeon operating on a man's shoulder. Oil painting after Gerrit Lundens.

A malicious itinerant surgeon extracting stones from a grimacing patient's head; symbolising the extraction of 'folly' (insanity). Engraving after D. Teniers.

The Sick Woman. Faint from fever, the young woman rests her head on a pillow. Is she perhaps lovesick Is she pregnant To find out, a quack would put a strip of his patient’s clothing in a brazier to smoulder - the scent would disclose her secret. Jan Steen here presents such a charlatan making a diagnosis. His old-fashioned attire characterizes him as a comic character.

A surgeon applying medicine to a wound in the shoulder of a man in pain. Oil painting by Gerrit Lundens, 1649.

A surgeon attending to a man's arm. Oil painting after Adriaen Brouwer.

Emergency Medicine, Medical - History

The disease represented is generally believed to be the plague. The location of bumps or blisters, however, is more consistent with smallpox (as the bubonic plague normally causes them only in the groin and in the armpits). This image is generally interpreted as a depiction of the Black Death. The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have started in China, it travelled along the Silk Road and reached the Crimea by 1346. From there, probably carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, it spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30-60 percent of Europe's population, reducing the world's population from an estimated 450 million to betwe

Jan Havickszoon Steen (1626-1679). Dutch painter. Doctor's Visit, c.1660. The State Hermitage Museum. Saint Petersburg. Russia.

Nephrology, Medical - History

Visiting the Sick Abraham Bosse French. Visiting the Sick 386150

Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was sent along with 38 nurses to the Barrack Hospital in Scutari to assist with medical support. As she cared for the troops she gained much respect, writing letters home on the soldiers' behalf and fighting to improve the sanitary conditions of the field hospitals. Florence was born in Italy in 1820, she moved to England with her wealthy family and was educated at home by her father. Although it was not deemed suitable for ladies of Florence's social standin

Sports Medicine, Medical - History

GOOD SAMARITAN - tends the victim's wounds at the roadside

Medicine, Anatomy, Surgery, Interior view of an operating room with two surgeons, one bleeding a man's arm and the other treating a man's back, Historic, digitally restored reproduction from a 19th century original.

Hospital Dispensary.

The Sick Child. Date: 1893. oil on canvas. Museum: Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The sick woman

A woman suffering from elephantiasis, being examined by three people. Reproduction of an oil painting by A. del Sarto.

Vesallus, Medical - History

Niis and Gille, Popular Imaging

Surgeon operating on a neck, miniature from The Surgery of Master Rogerius by Roggerio dei Frugardi or Rogerius Salernitanus. Latin manuscript, France 14th century.

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