Regency Portraits Catalogue
John Abernethy (1764-1831), Surgeon and teacher
- Gallery portraits
- All known portraits
- Biography and References
Surgeon; founder of St Bartholomew's Hospital medical school and an inspiring teacher of anatomy, pathology and surgery.
'His mode of entering the lecture-room was often irresistibly droll - his hands buried deep in his breeches-pockets, his body bent slouchingly forward, blowing or whistling, his eyes twinkling beneath their arches, and his lower jaw thrown considerably beneath the upper. Then he would cast himself into a chair, swing one of his legs over the arm of it, and commence his lecture in the most outré manner. The abruptness, however, never failed to command silence and rivet attention' (T. J. Pettigrew, Medical Portrait Gallery, 1840, II, pp 4-5).
'His mode of entering the lecture-room was often irresistibly droll - his hands buried deep in his breeches-pockets, his body bent slouchingly forward, blowing or whistling, his eyes twinkling beneath their arches, and his lower jaw thrown considerably beneath the upper. Then he would cast himself into a chair, swing one of his legs over the arm of it, and commence his lecture in the most outré manner. The abruptness, however, never failed to command silence and rivet attention' (T. J. Pettigrew, Medical Portrait Gallery, 1840, II, pp 4-5).
Referencesback to top
Macilwain 1853-56George Macilwain, Memoirs of John Abernethy FRS, 1853 and 1856.
Thornton 1953
J. L. Thornton, John Abernethy, a Biography, 1953, reproduced p 32.
This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: Richard Walker, Regency Portraits, National Portrait Gallery, 1985, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.