Monday, March 9, 2009

Mrs Bennett: Before and After, From the Wellcome Library



Above is a wonderful series of pathological portraits plucked from the Wellcome Library's extensive "Gentlefolk of Leeds Afflicted with Disease" Collection, (sic) and featured on the Wellcome Library Blog today. The portraits, both from around 1820, depict a Mrs. Bennett before-and-after undergoing a skin disease cure. The first portrait, showing her in the full subjection to her disease, is entitled, eloquently, "Mrs Bennett. Disease from 1818 to 1821". The second portrait, showcasing her complete recovery, is entitled, with equal flair, "Under Cure From 1818 to 1821."

See full story by clicking here. You can peruse the whole fascinating Wellcome Library Blog by clicking here. More on the fantastic, amazing, utterly entralling Wellcome Collection in these recent posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
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1 comment:

Administration said...

The 'before' portrait seems strangely more ... sexualised... than the 'cured' one...