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Medicine in American Art

Ether Day
Stefan C. Schatzki1
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October 16, 1846: The Bullfinch Amphitheater at the Massachu- were included in Hinckley’s painting, were definitely not present. In
setts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts: “The First [disput- addition to the individuals on the floor, a number of specific individu-
ably] Operation Under Ether.” How did Robert C. Hinckley, an als, primarily medical students, have been identified in the audience
unknown painter and a member of a prominent Massachusetts fam- surrounding the amphitheater.
ily, produce the most famous rendition of this important event that In 1884, Robert Hinckley returned to the United States and began
took place 7 years before he was even born? The story of the paint- a career as a portrait painter in Washington, DC. He completed at
ing has recently been told in a book by Richard J. Wolfe, curator of least 350 portraits of notable Washingtonians and others throughout
rare books and manuscripts at the Countway Library in Boston, MA. the country. Some of these portraits are still in the collections of the
Robert C. Hinckley was born on April 3, 1853. Little is known of National Gallery in Washington, the Capitol, and West Point. He
his early years, but in approximately 1869, at the age of 16, he went taught at the school of the Corcoran Gallery of Art for several years.
to Paris and studied with Carolus Duran. Hinckley exhibited at the By 1903, having inherited a great deal of wealth upon the death of
Paris salon from 1880 to 1884. Duran required that all his pupils fin- his mother 5 years before, and sensing a lack of recognition of his
ish at least one large dramatic painting before completing their train- work, Hinckley began to divest himself of his paintings, books, and
ing. Hinckley thus produced “Alexandre a Persepolis,” which was other professional items. As part of this process, he offered his ether
exhibited at the 1882 salon. As the introduction of ether anesthesia picture to the Boston Medical Library, where it has hung since, pres-
had become a source of pride for Bostonians, Hinckley decided to ently gracing the foyer of the Countway Library, an amalgam of the
also produce a work commemorating this historic event. Boston Medical Library and the Harvard Medical School Library.
Hinckley faced major obstacles in trying to recreate realistically In 1910, Hinckley abandoned painting and moved to Rehoboth
an event that had occurred almost 4 decades earlier. Who had par- Beach in Delaware, where he remained almost the rest of his life.
ticipated, and how could Hinckley find pictures of the individuals that When Robert Hinckley died on June 1 , 1941 , at the age of 88, his
had been present? He therefore returned to Boston in the spring of death was largely unnoticed. Today, his career has been forgotten,
1883 and spent several months trying to locate and interview pantic- but his name is remembered because of his famous monumental
ipants or witnesses and contacting others who would help contribute depiction of one of the seminal events in American medicine.
to the painting’s authenticity. When he arrived in Boston, he had
already made preliminary sketches in Paris. He soon met Dr. Henry
Jacob Bigelow (AJR 1994;163:574), who said that he was the only
surviving member of the 1846 staff of the Massachusetts General
Hospital that had been present at the surgery. Hinckley may also
have visited in New York the son of William T.G. Morton, who had
delivered the anesthesia. He continued his research, talking to as
many people as he could and visiting the Boston Medical Library,
which had a display of portraits of local and New England physi-
cians. Using these paintings, together with photographs of portraits
and pictures at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Hinckley
sketched the individuals who he thought were present at the sur-
gery. However, identification of all those actually present still
remains a matter for conjecture.
In mid 1883, Hinckley returned to Paris, where he completed the
huge painting. Despite all his research, it is clear that Hinckley
included at least two individuals who were not present. Definitely
present and depicted in the painting are the surgeon, Dr. John C.
Warren, and Morton. Among the others included in the painting and
present at the surgery were Dr. Bigelow and the patient, Gilbert
Abbott, from whom Dr. Warren removed a tumor of the jaw. In addi-
tion to several other physicians, Ebban H. Frost, a businessman who
had received ether anesthesia previously from Dr. Morton for a den-
tal procedure, and a newspaper reporter were present. However, Robert C. Hinckley (1853-1941), Ether Day, 1882-1893. Oil on canvas; 96
Drs. Jonathan Mason Warren and Abel Lawrence Pierson, who inches x 115 inches. Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Boston, MA.

1 Department of Radiology, Mount Auburn Hospital, 330 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge, MA 02238. Address correspondence to S. C. Schatzki.

AJR 1995;165:560 0361-803X/95/1653-560 © American Roentgen Ray Society