An elderly anatomist contemplates the heart that he has excised from the corpse of a beautiful, young woman

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An elderly anatomist contemplates the heart that he has excised from the corpse of a beautiful, young woman. Photogravure by R Schuster, 1907, after a painting by E Simonet, 1890. This photogravure is after an oil painting, now in the Museo de Belles Artes in Malaga, Spain, painted by the Spanish artist Enrique Simonet y Lombardo, while he was in Rome, in 1890. Its original title is ¡Y tenía corazón!, or "She had a heart". An elderly anatomist is shown holding the heart of the corpse of a beautiful, young woman which is laid out, half-draped, on a table before him, bathed in light entering through the window on the facing wall. In his right hand he holds the blood-stained scalpel which he has used to remove the heart. On the wall behind him, next to the lantern, is the lower half of a crucifixion – an indication that the scene takes place in a hospital under religious administration. On the window ledge are arranged distillation bottles and on a table in the right foreground are two scalpels, a large sponge and a bowl. The theme of the contemplation of death, the apparently living corpse, and youthful, feminine beauty is also the subject of catalogue nos 25532 and 25570. For another example of this print, see catalogue no. 25615. Created 1906. Anatomists. Human dissection. Human anatomy. Dead. Distillation apparatus. Feminine beauty (Aesthetics). Surgical instruments and apparatus. Crosses. Sponges. Contributors: Simonet y Lombardo, Enrique (1864–1927); Rud. Schuster. Work ID: vd38basb.

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