ABSTRACT
https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003690726/9efc2e0f-c80d-4916-ac2e-5ba6d8471ddd/content/inline8.jpg"/> The Painting The Anatomy Lesson of Sebastiaen Egbertszn, which dates from 1601–1603, is the oldest in the series of the nine so-called ‘Anatomy Lessons’ or ‘Anatomy Works of Art’, painted for the Amsterdam Surgeons’ Guild during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It laid the foundation for a tradition in portrait painting which would last for a hundred and fifty years. The theme of the ‘anatomy lesson’ was masterfully combined to create a series of carefully composed group portraits of the guild’s surgeons. The guild members obviously chose for the anatomy lesson theme to be included in the composition. After all, the anatomy demonstrations given by the praelector were of great importance to the surgeons.
