The Agnew Clinic
1889
Oil on canvas

Thomas Eakins
American
Born 1844, died 1916

In 1889, students from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine commissioned Eakins to make a portrait of the retiring professor of surgery Dr. D Hayes Agnew ( 1818 - 1892 ). Recalling The Gross Clinic of fourteen years before, Eakins greatly expanded the project to include an operation in progress and portraits of the students. Working day and night, Eakins completed the painting in three months, in time for it to be presented at the university commencement on May 1, 1889.

* text taken from museum display