Dokter voelt de pols van een vrouw 1846

Hendrik Last created this print of a doctor examining a woman, sometime in the mid-19th century, in the Netherlands. It suggests the intimacy and domesticity of healthcare at this time. Here, the woman’s illness draws members of the family together. The country doctor, recognizable by his attire, checks her pulse, while other figures look on with concern. This scene reflects the changing dynamics of medical care in the 19th century. The rise of the medical profession was closely linked to ideas of scientific progress, yet the doctor is still a local figure, tending to patients in their homes. By the late 1800s, hospitals will become the central place for medical treatment, shifting the experience of healthcare into a more public and institutional setting. To understand this work more fully, one can look at the history of medicine and science, the changing role of the family in Dutch society, and the institutions that shaped medical practices. The meaning of this image, like all art, shifts over time, as social and institutional contexts change.