Gretchen Worden, former Director of the Mutter Museum (Philadelphia College of Physicians), oil on linen, 48" x 36"
Here is my latest commissioned work. It is a posthumous portrait of a dynamic, compassionate woman who devoted her career to the Mutter Museum. You may have seen her on the David Letterman Show; she appeared on the show three times over the course of several years. The Mutter Museum is a medical museum started by Thomas Dent Mutter in the 19th century with the donation of his collection. The collection includes human skulls and skeletons, preserved body parts with various diseases, conditions, or abnormalities, and old medical instruments. A plaster cast of Chang and Eng, the original Siamese twins, resides there (along with their preserved liver). The purpose of the museum is to preserve knowledge of, and to educate the public about human pathology and medical history. With funding from the city of Philadelphia, the present director has created an exhibit on the history and present dangers of lead poisoning. Personally I have always found the museum to be a fascinating place.
In the background of the portrait is the skeleton of a 7' 6" giant, and the skeleton of a 3' 6" achondroplastic dwarf. Ms. Worden isholding a lithotrite, an antique instrument used to enter the male bladder and crush bladder stones!
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