Early Operation Using Ether for Anesthesia
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Early Operation Using Ether for Anesthesia” now? Collection: J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Not on view at present. Checked October 7, 2026.
Los Angeles, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
The setting for this daguerreotype is the teaching amphitheater of Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. John Collins Warren, cofounder of the hospital and professor of anatomy, stands with his hands upon the patient's thigh, explaining the proceedings to a student audience seated out of camera range. Dr. Solomon Davis Townsend, who performed the operation, stands behind Warren with his left arm akimbo. An unidentified anesthetist holds a sponge soaked in ether near the head of the patient who, curiously enough, still wears his socks. Warren had commissioned Albert Sands Southworth and Josiah Johnson Hawes to make the first photographic record of an actual live medical operation, which was also the retiring Dr. Warren's last lecture. The doctors' heads all moved during the long exposure, causing blurring and confirming the photograph's candid circumstances.
J. Paul Getty Museum
Details
- Accession number
- 84.XT.958
In the catalog
Sources
- J. Paul Getty Museum
- Image: J. Paul Getty Museum — Open Content
