The Doctor’s Examination by Dutch painter Godefridus Schalcken (1643-1706), is a very interesting painting related to the history of medicine. This oil on panel was painted in the years between 1680-85 and it is now housed in the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague (Plein 29).
The physician is depicted performing a urine inspection, a common diagnostic practice in the 17th century known as uroscopy. The doctor lifts a glass flask toward the light to observe the color, clarity, and sediment of the patient’s urine. This method was believed to reveal the patient’s overall health, but in this case the doctor has the role of a Quack (or piss looker). In the flask he sees a baby swimming, a sign that the young lady sobbing in the background is pregnant.
- Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (July 2025) and page layout by Elena Rugolo (November 2025)
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Bibliography
- Giorgio Bordin, Laura Polo D’Ambrosio, Medicine in Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2010, pp. 229–232.