Marie-Guillaume-Alphonse
DEVERGIE
Illustrations of Diseases of the Skin
These disturbing but beautifully
executed early 19th Century engravings show
patients suffering from skin diseases resulting
from venereal disasease. The images are hard
to look at, especially since they so clearly
document individuals, and are a reminder of
the deep suffering resulting from diseases that
are today easily treatable.
These individuals would most likely have been
hidden from society in hospitals and institutions
such as the Val de Grace (Valley of Grace)
hospital in Paris where some of these drawings
were done.
Several of the engravings note that they were
part of the Museum of Anatomy created by the
famous French physician Marie-Guillaume-Alphonse
Devergie (1798-1879). Devergie produced
a famous series of watercolors on diseases of
the skin, and these engravings are most likely
based on them.
Devergie is also considered one of th founders
of forensic medicine.
Each of the images can be enlarged by clicking
on them.
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Medical and Anatomical Images
