European Painter (18th Century) - The Bloodletting.

European painter (18th century) - The Bloodletting.

66 x 49 cm (unframed) - 85 x 68 cm (framed).

Oil on canvas, in a carved and gilded wooden frame.

The scene depicts a nocturnal interior animated by five figures: at the centre of the composition a young patient, seated in an armchair and wearing red breeches, extends his arm to a physician or surgeon performing a bloodletting, a therapeutic practice widely prevalent in the eighteenth century. The physician, dressed in a green jacket and a velvet cap, holds the lancet while a boy keeps the vessel beneath the incision; to the left, a woman and a man observe the scene with expressions of concern. In the background, an open window reveals a moonlit night sky, while a heavy dark drape closes the composition on the right.
The subject belongs to the genre-painting tradition of Northern European and Flemish origin, with possible influences from the French and English narrative tradition of the eighteenth century. The dark palette, enlivened by touches of red on the breeches and the bloodletting vessel, the rendering of the flesh tones, and the spatial construction of the interior all point to the figurative culture of eighteenth-century transalpine Europe.

Condition report: Relined canvas. Good state of conservation of the pictorial surface, with signs of ageing and wear.

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Disclaimer: Renderings: The environmental images are AI-generated for illustrative purposes and may not reflect the actual proportions of the artwork.