As graduation draws near, seniors begin to ponder how they’ll leave their final legacy. Whether it’s getting their name on the Feb Club plaque at Smoke's or a brick on the 38th St. Bridge, little compares to a gift from 1889.
The graduating medical school class commissioned renowned American artist Thomas Eakins to depict their professor D. Hayes Agnew, who was set to retire that year. Instead of a traditional portrait, Eakins decided to paint a work similar to his earlier painting The Gross Clinic — an eerie scene loved dearly by the Class of 2013 — depicting Dr. Samuel Gross performing surgery in 1875.
While Eakins’s realistic precision and keen attention to lighting are present in both works, developments in the medical field during the period between the creations of the two pieces are reflected on the canvas.
Here, Dr. Agnew is pictured in a crisp white gown, using sterilized tools to perform a mastectomy with the help of three assistants and a nurse. This kind of antiseptic surgery was not present 14 years before, when Dr. Gross posed in his street clothes with similarly–clad assistants. This move towards sanitization is also reflected in Eakin’s use of lighter colors.
On May 1, 1889, the 7– by 11–foot painting was unveiled at the Medical School's Commencement — an eminent contribution to the visual history of medicine. So if you’re feeling apathetic about Seniors for the Penn Fund and want inspiration for a more creative contribution, stop by the PMA, where the The Agnew Clinic is housed under a loan arrangement with the University.
