Accession No

6224

Brief Description

Manuscript page from Arabic book with later illustration depicting a two men performing a caesarean birth; page is probably late 18th/early 19th century, illustration is much later, probably 20th century

Origin

Maker

Class

manuscripts; medical

Earliest Date

1750

Latest Date

2000

Inscription Date

Material

paper; paint

Dimensions

length 252mm; height 192mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Gallery Antique, Divanyola Caddesi No. 17, Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey in 11/2006.

Inscription

[Arabic text needs translating]

Description Notes

Manuscript page from Arabic book with later illustration depicting a two men around an unclothed female, performing a caesarian birth.

Scene is painted in colour, including metallic gold paint. It shows an unclothed woman lying down on a table, with an incision in her abdomen from which a baby is being removed by a male medical practitioner. There is another man, presumably a medical practitioner, holding the woman’s head. A gold coloured bowl is placed on the table near the point of incision.

Arabic text accompanies the image, along with two stamps also in Arabic.

The page and the (Ottoman?) text on its reverse is probably late 18th/early 19th century; the illustration on the front is painted over the original text and is much later, probably 20th century.

More research needs to be done on the Arabic/Ottoman text to determine the text from which this page is taken.

Condition fair; page is discoloured and has a stain on the top right corner. One area of insect damage present -- a 9mm long area of loss. Page edges have been cut off with scissors or another sharp implement, giving uneven edges.

References

Events

Description
This is a manuscript page from an Arabic book, depicting two men standing around a woman, performing a caesarian birth. There is an incision in the female’s abdomen, through which the baby is being removed

This page from an Arabic manuscript contains a modern illustration copied from an older text. It depicts two men performing a Caesarean section. Arabic doctors were the first known to have performed Caesareans (as early as the sixth century B.C.); the Arabic poet Firdousi (935–1025 C.E.) even described at great length the Caesarean birth of the hero of his poem ‘Shahnama’ (‘Book of the Kings’).

FM:46697