The image that I chose from Wellcome Images is called “A Chinese lady (Lo Wanshun) from Canton (Guangzhou) sitting on a couch with a tumor on her left cheek.” This portrait was painted by Lam Qua in 1836.

This image captured my attention because the size of the tumor on the woman’s left cheek stood out to me. The tumor is situated beneath her left ear and it extends forward to her cheeks and nose and goes down to her neck. The woman is sitting gracefully on the wooden bench with both hands on her lap and her legs crossed. She is wearing a blue robe with black collars and a purple skirt. Her foot seems to be bound based on the shape and the type of shoe she was wearing. Her hair is put up into a simple hairdo with two hair ornaments sticking out from the back. She is wearing a jade bangle on both her wrists and a dangle earring on her right ear. Based on her appearance, it seems like she is in her late 30s to early 40s and she should be married and has children.

To me, the striking part of this image is the woman’s expression. Although the left side of her face is disfigured, she doesn’t seem all that sad. Her eyes show tiredness but she has a slight smile for the portrait. Perhaps she has hope that she will receive the right treatment for her tumor at Canton Hospital. This image is very similar to the image we saw in class where two sisters has a deformity in their left eye. Both images depict a physical deformity as a result of some disease or medical condition.

L0037319 Credit: Wellcome Library, London
A Chinese lady (Lo Wanshun) from Canton (Guangzhou) sitting on a couch with a tumour on her left cheek.

V0017575 “Anxious moments”: a sick child, its grieving parents, a nur
Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images
images@wellcome.ac.uk
http://wellcomeimages.org
“Anxious moments”: a sick child, its grieving parents, a nursemaid and a medical practitioner. Oil painting attributed to John Whitehead Walton, 1894.
By: John Whitehead WaltonPublished: –
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The picture I chose is called “Anxious moments” it is an oil painting attributed to John Whitehead Walton from the year 1894. This painting depicts a scene of a sick child with her grief-stricken parents. A medical practitioner and a nursemaid are at the bedside.

This painting portrays mixed emotions. This painting takes place in the evening because there is a lamp at the bedside table and a glow from the door that looks like the sun is setting outside. The medical practitioner has rushed over and dropped his hat and cane on the floor. He is intent on assessing the child, while the parents are in obvious distress as they are trying to cope with the situation. The nursemaid has possibly given the child some medicine or water because she is holding a bottle while caressing the child and looking intently at the medical practitioner for further instructions. Based on the fact that this painting is from the 19^th century, care is provided at home for children, I can assume that the family had no choice but to call the medical practitioner over to get the child checked. The mother is caring and cannot bear to look and see what could possibly be going wrong with her child. The father is patiently waiting and his expression is troubled and helpless, as he looks at the child in hopes that everything will be okay.

Focusing in on the child; she glows while her surroundings are dim. This gives the painting a feeling of innocence from the child. Her expression is peaceful and without any signs of distress. Despite the surroundings being so dark, looking solely at the child in the picture, it is uplifting. The child is neither suffering nor does it look like she has any form of severe illness.

The reason I found this particular painting striking is because it portrays the value of family and how medicine interacts with family ties. No matter how time goes on, whether it is the 19^th century or the 21^st century, the bond that families have will never change. Each individual in this picture represents the role that each title holds. When a child is sick, the entire family is involved with the healthcare providers. This compares to the imagery that we have discussed in class because it has a complimenting surroundings that reflect the central idea of the image. When we look at this painting we can see how colors, lighting, and facial expressions can give us so much meaning to the painting. It represents the knowledge and system of delivering care at the time the imagery was created. It speaks for itself as does the imagery we have discussed in class.

V0015962 An African medicine man or shaman applying the technique of
Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images
images@wellcome.ac.uk
http://wellcomeimages.org
An African medicine man or shaman applying the technique of cupping to a patient (using animal horns), which involves drawing blood to the surface of the body. Watercolour.
Published: –
Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This image depicts an African medicine man using the practice of cupping on a patient. This painting speaks to me because this is an ancient healing art that has transcended in to current Western use. Cupping is largely practiced in Chinese medicine, but it has dated back as early as 3000BC. It is believed to promote blood flow to heal muscle tension or pain in various areas.

Through heat or suction the skin is vacummed into a cup placed over the targeted area. In the image the healer is using what look to be a hollowed bone or horn of some sort and manually drawing the skin into it with his mouth. In modern use a rubber pump may be used in addition to silicone cups. The cups are then left in place for a short time before removing.  

This is more of an alternative treatment to various ailments, so there is not a lot of research on its effectiveness

The image I chose from the Wellcome Library is called “Gentlefolk of Leeds Afflicted with Disease; Mrs. Prince, after surgical removal of a breast. Watercolour, 1841.” The painting captured my attention because of the graphic imagery of the woman’s mastectomy. From the painting, it shows a middle-aged woman, possibly in middle class society. She looks healthy based on her weight and has the red blush on her cheeks. However, the skin on her face may be covered with make-up, so we cannot be sure how healthy she really is. She is wearing a lace cap, a dark dress, and a yellow shawl. Her dress and shawl are loosened to reveal her breasts and makes the observer to focus his/her attention to them. The woman has an open wound on her right breast, with vivid details of what it is inside of it. We do not know what kind of disease she had on her breast, which required this kind of operation in the 1800s. This is like the images we saw in class because the artist must have studied in detail of the internal body, possibly seeing woman undergo the surgery or possibly at her autopsy, in order to paint this image. It also shows us that doctors did indeed do these kinds of procedures back in the 1800s on women that had diseases, tumors, or cancers on their breasts.