Study for "Autopsy at the Hôtel-Dieu"

Henri Gervex

National Gallery of Art

Three pale-skinned men wearing black garments and long, white aprons stand behind a table on which lies a nude corpse on a white sheet in this vertical painting. The corpse’s head is to our right and the face falls toward us. The eyes are sunken, and the rib cage and hip bones protrude sharply from the body. The men gathered behind the table are painted with fewer details so their faces are indistinct, though we can make out that the person to our left has gray hair, and he touches the corpse’s pelvis. The other two have dark beards and might wear black caps, and the middle person might take notes. The man to our right rests both hands on the table on either side of the corpse’s head and leans forward, looking down. The table is under the curve of a thick arched wall that separates two high, deep-set windows. Two unlit lamps hang above. The scene is painted with dabs and some visible brushstrokes, giving it a soft, shadowy, and hazy appearance. The artist signed the painting in red in the lower left, “H. Gervex.”