Been met eczeem c. 1860 - 1868

This is a color print of a leg afflicted with eczema by A. de Montméja. What are we to make of an image like this? In its time, this medical illustration would have circulated within the professional networks of physicians and hospitals. Consider the status of the medical profession in the 19th century, as practitioners sought to define themselves as scientists. Precise observation and documentation were key to this project. Here, a body is made available for scrutiny. The clinical gaze is a kind of social power, one that diagnoses and classifies. But it might also be turned toward more radical ends: think of artists like the German Otto Dix, whose unflinching portraits of wounded veterans challenged the romanticization of war. To more fully understand an image like this, we might consider the history of medical illustration, of dermatology, and of the patient whose body is on display. Art is always contingent on social and institutional contexts.