Portraiture and Health Care

Abstract

Artistic representations of medicine and illness are present in anatomical and physiological illustrations of the human body, medical instruction manuals, treatment documentation, and aesthetic works that have, over the centuries, facilitated the discovery and understanding of various aspects of medicine, health, illness, and disability. 1 Portraits, in particular, have been instrumental in representing and explaining medical pathologies, pathopsychologies, and trauma. 2,3,4,5 The term medical portraiture has been applied to depictions that commemorate and critique physicians and their practices. 6,7