Amputation, hand-coloured etching by Thomas Rowlandson, 1793 . A group of six surgeons and doctors surround a terrified man as he has his leg amputated.
Featured on PDR in the essay Sicko Doctors: Suffering and Sadism in 19th-Century America
American fiction of the 19th century often featured a ghoulish figure, the cruel doctor, whose unfeeling fascination with bodily suffering readers found both unnerving and entirely plausible. Looking at novels by Louisa May Alcott, James Fenimore Cooper, and Herman Melville, Chelsea Davis dissects this curious character.
Also appearing in the essay…
Other works by the artist in the archive…
Amputation
Artist
Date
1793
