Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This extraordinary painting from our collection shows the medieval miracle that dreamt up modern surgery centuries ahead of its time. But the image raises unsettling questions about whose bodies have been cared for - and whose have been exploited - in the history of medicine.
Alt text: the reel shows details from a magnificent, richly detailed and coloured 15th century Spanish oil painting depicting the ‘miracle of the leg’. The two doctors, finely dressed, operate on their patient against the background of a heavy green curtain. Three angels attend the scene of the operation, one holding a candle to light the surgical work and another holding the amputated leg by the shin.
Credit: Verger's Dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, c.1495.
Public Domain. Wellcome Collection. #art #painting #surgery #medicine #history #miracles #transplant
This extraordinary painting from our collection shows the medieval miracle that dreamt up modern surgery centuries ahead of its time. But the image raises unsettling questions about whose bodies have been cared for - and whose have been exploited - in the history of medicine.
Alt text: the reel shows details from a magnificent, richly detailed and coloured 15th century Spanish oil painting depicting the ‘miracle of the leg’. The two doctors, finely dressed, operate on their patient against the background of a heavy green curtain. Three angels attend the scene of the operation, one holding a candle to light the surgical work and another holding the amputated leg by the shin.
Credit: Verger's Dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, c.1495.
Public Domain. Wellcome Collection. #art #painting #surgery #medicine #history #miracles #transplant
