Lucas van Leyden

The surgeon and the peasant. Engraving

      1524. Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533). The surgeon and the peasant. Engraving, 116 2 75 mm., matted. Signed within the plate with Lucas's initial "L" and dated 1524. 2 or 3 very small and unobtrusive repairs. Very good impression. Lucas's famous engraving of a typical barber-surgeon at work. "It has been suggested that this engraving is a subtle indictment of the barber-surgeon. He is shown wearing elegant attire, whereas his patient is portrayed as a poor country bumpkin. In the artistic language of the day the large, heavy purse below the surgeon's right arm signalled an undue preoccupation with money" (Rutkow, Surgery: An Illustrated History, p. 121). Lyons & Petrucelli, Medicine: An Illustrated History, p. 383 (illustrating the engraving).