VELPEAU (Alfred) - Lot 189

VELPEAU (Alfred) Alfred Velpeau Born in Brèches (Indre-et-Loire) in 1795, died in 1867. Major French surgeon of the 19th century, member of the Académie des Sciences and professor at the Paris Faculty of Medicine. Alfred Velpeau was one of the great innovators of modern surgery before the antiseptic era. Antique framed bust of Alfred Velpeau. Galerie Contemporaine, boulevard de Magenta; cliché Pierre Petit; Goupil & Cie print. 23 × 32.5 cm approx. Beautiful photograph of the famous surgeon, depicting him seated, arms crossed, in a pose of great academic dignity. The portrait highlights the austere, energetic physiognomy of one of the masters of Parisian medicine during the Second Empire. This photographic print, based on a cliché from Pierre Petit's studio, is one of the famous biographical publications of the "Galerie Contemporaine", a major illustrated publishing venture devoted to the great intellectual, political and scientific figures of the 19th century. Velpeau remains famous for his work in surgery, obstetrics and pathological anatomy, as well as for his authoritative medical treatises. His name remains attached to several techniques and clinical descriptions that have become classics in medical history. An interesting iconographic document dedicated to a major figure in nineteenth-century French surgery.