Jan van Neck (1635–1714), The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Frederik Ruysch, 1683

It belongs to the famous series of group portraits commissioned by the Amsterdam Surgeons’ Guild. Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731), the city’s praelector anatomiae and a pioneering anatomist/obstetrician, is shown demonstrating the connection between a stillborn or deceased newborn and its placenta via the umbilical cord. Surrounding figures are guild officials; Ruysch’s young son Hendrik holds a prepared fetal skeleton.