Why it matters
Dr Samuel Gross lectures to students in an operating theatre, his hand bloodied, as his team operates on a young man's leg. Admired for its uncompromising realism, it documents surgery just before American surgeons adopted aseptic techniques.
Did you know?
- It was painted in 1875.
- Eakins included himself among the students at the right edge.
- Gross is performing a conservative operation instead of the usual amputation.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Gross Clinic (CC BY-SA 4.0).
