Franz Joseph Gall, Dr. der Arzneykunst zu Wien

Franz Joseph Gall, Dr. der Arzneykunst zu Wien

Gall, F. J. (Franz Joseph), 1758-1828

Portraits

Rahl (artist)

Laurens (engraver)

A controversial figure even in his own lifetime, Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) may properly be considered the father of phrenology, although Gall himself never used that term, and phrenology as we think of it was far removed from Gall's work on the brain and nervous system. As early as the 1790s, Gall was developing theories on the anatomy and function of the parts of the brain. In 1805, with a student and follower, J. G. Spurzheim, Gall embarked on a long lecture tour of Europe, visiting prisons and asylums as well. After settling in Paris in 1807, he began his major work on cerebral function. In 1810 the first volume of Anatomie et Physiologie du Système Nerveux appeared—one of the first and still impressive accounts of the structure and dissection of the human brain. It and the successive volume were written in conjunction with his assistant, Johann Gaspar Spurzheim.

Portrait of Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), painted by Rahl and engraved by Laurens.

Rahl

1800, circa

Laurens (engraver)

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Portrait Collection, box 53, f. 24, Portrait no. 2058.10

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1 portrait

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From the Collections of the Boston Medical Library