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The Gross Clinic,, by Thomas Eakins, 1875.
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Controversial portrait of Dr. Samuel Gross instructing his students during a teaching clinic at Jefferson Medical College. His right hand holds a scalpel and is covered with blood. Blood spills from the patient's thigh as other physicians help Dr. Gross perform the operation.

Credit: The Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pa.

Once considered "revolting to the last degree" for its graphic depiction of a leg operation, Eakin's The Gross Clinic, 1875, is today considered a masterpiece of American Art. To better understand human anatomy Eakins in 1874 had attended surgical clinics presented by Dr. Gross at the Jefferson Medical College.

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