The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

The scene depicts Dr. Nicolaes Tulp explaining the muscles of the arm in a glimpse of early modern medicine
Anatomy lessons were quite fashionable at the time. The body would have belonged to a criminal, and public dissections took place once a year at the Amsterdam Guild of Surgeons
The detail and expressions are captivating. It reminds of a modern photo, and in fact the people in the painting probably paid to be included in the “selfie” (with the exception of the corpse, of course…)