A tale of two paintings: depictions of the first public demonstration of ether anesthesia.

PAINTINGS about medical history fall into several categories: the celebration of a discovery; the representation of current medical practice, medical teaching, or visiting dignitaries; and the depiction of a calamity. An example in the celebratory category is the depiction by French artist Jean Andre Rixens (1846–1924; Le Jubilé de Pasteur) of Louis Pasteur being honored at the Sorbonne. American artist Thomas Eakins (1844–1916; The Gross Clinic and The Agnew Clinic) and Austrian painter Adelbert Seligmann (1862–1945; Theodor Billroth at Work in the Allgemeines Krankenhaus in Vienna) have memorably portrayed clinicians at work. Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669; Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp) and American artist Charles Stephens (1855–1931; Anatomical lecture by Dr. William Williams Keen) have illustrated scenes of medical teaching. The painting by French artist Baron Antoine-Jean Gros (1771–1835; Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims of Jaffa) shows Emperor Napoleon visiting patients, while English painter Robert Hannah (1812–1909; William Harvey Demonstrating to King Charles) portrays William Harvey demonstrating the theory of circulation to King Charles I. Several famous paintings show victims of the bubonic plague in Europe; The Plague of Ashdod by French artist Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) is one such example. Although some might argue about who is most deserving of credit for introducing anesthesia, there is no doubt that events of the 1840s marked the beginning of the conquest of pain through anesthesia. In 1882, at the urging of French portrait artist Carolus-Duran (1838– 1917), and to fulfill training requirements as an art student in Paris, Robert Cutler Hinckley (1853–1941) decided to create a painting of the first successful public demonstration of ether anesthesia. Hinckley’s painting, The First Operation with Ether (fig. 1), has become one of the most popular paintings in medical history. Before Hinckley began his work, sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward (1830–1910) created the Ether Monument, which was erected and displayed in the Boston Public Garden in 1868. Several years after the celebration of the 150th anniversary of this historic event, the Board of Trustees at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, at the urging of Dr. John B. Herman, commissioned Warren and Lucia Prosperi to create an accurate painting of the ether demonstration. The painting, Ether Day, 1846 (fig. 2), was unveiled on October 16, 2001, exactly 155 yr after the original demonstration of ether anesthesia. It was presented as a gift to Massachusetts General Hospital by its physicians, nurses, and friends. Although these paintings appear very similar, the documentation of a historic event by an artist, closer scrutiny reveals that the artists have used application of paint, control of light, varied points of view, and inclusion of detail to create works that differ markedly both in their appearance and in the emotional response they evoke.