Teaching watercolor of a damaged skull

Teaching watercolor of a damaged skull

Bone and Bones

Skull

Henry Jacob Bigelow Watercolor Collection

Wallis, Oscar

Bigelow, Henry Jacob, 1818-1890

Teaching Aids and devices

Teaching Methods

Harvard Medical School. Department of Anatomy

Fitz, Reginald, 1885-1953

Possibly of a local Boston patient

Large watercolor showing two views of a deformed skull. The bone of the forehand and face is rough in texture and has been thinned by the damage, causing holes in the surface. The front four teeth are also missing where they meet damaged bone. The bone of the jaw and the back of the cranium is unaffected. The lower image shows the skull from the inside, which also has an abnormal texture, and the holes are clearly visible. Watercolor is framed in green sewn textile, with metal grommets in each of the four corners.

Wallis, Oscar

1848-1854

The Harvard Medical Library does not hold copyright on all the materials in the collection. For use information, contact the Warren Anatomical Museum Curator at chm@hms.harvard.edu

Accessing collections in the Warren Anatomical Museum and the Warren Anatomical Museum archive requires advanced notice. Please submit a request to Public Services at chm@hms.harvard.edu to access the displayed item

Warren Anatomical Museum (21142.407)

image

watercolors (paintings)

21142.407

Henry Jacob Bigelow employed artist Oscar Wallis exclusively from 1848 - 1854 to paint a series of large teaching watercolors to illustrate Bigelow's lectures at Harvard Medical School. Wallis painted the teaching diagrams from local subjects and from the atlases of established medical authorities. The effort cost Bigelow $6,000. In 1890 Bigelow presented the watercolors to Reginald H. Fitz to be used in the Harvard Medical School's Department of Anatomy. The watercolors were transferred into the Warren Anatomical Museum between 1890 and 1930.

69 W x 100 H cm