426 
FLETCHER. 
his class. The bright, intelligent faces of his auditors, the 
easy grace of the master, who with one hand is lifting the 
tendons and with the other is impressing upon his hearers 
the functions of the muscles, is a masterpiece of expression. 
Tulp’s name is hardly known now except to the student, 
but he will live in history as long as Rembrandt’s painting 
shall endure. It is not generally known that there is in 
existence a still finer painting by Rembrandt of a like sub¬ 
ject. The Tulp picture was produced when the artist was 
twenty years old. In his fiftieth year he painted a Lesson 
of Anatomy as given by Professor Deyman. This was lost 
sight of fora very long period, and it was only recently that 
it was discovered in London and secured for the Royal Mu¬ 
seum of Amsterdam. Unfortunately a large part of the 
painting had been destroyed by fire, and of the class only 
one figure remains, that of a youth with a fine face, dressed 
in the sombre garment set off by a long white collar char¬ 
acteristic of the period. He holds the skull-cap of the sub¬ 
ject in his hand. Of the professor nothing is left but the 
hands, which are extremely beautiful, and which hold two 
instruments in true surgical style, with which the mem¬ 
branes of the brain are being demonstrated. The cadaver 
is in a half sitting position for the convenience of the lec¬ 
turer, and there is in the face and attitude something of that 
grim half-consciousness which the older anatomists delighted 
to represent. The body is foreshortened with daring skill, 
and what is left of this wonderful painting shows the great 
advancement which time had brought to the skill of the 
master. This fragmentary painting was discovered by Volk- 
maier, the biographer of the artist, who knew of its existence 
from Rembrandt’s papers. I have seen only one notice of it 
in print.* 
In the Royal Museum of Amsterdam a room has been 
dedicated to a collection of paintings of “ Lessons of Anato¬ 
my,” by Dutch artists, extending from 1603 to 1758. This 
* Paul Triaire. Les legons d’anatomie et les peintres hollandais aux 
xvi e et xvii e siecles, [Paris] 1881. 
