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History Repeats Itself (Sometimes)

Arch Intern Med. 1999;159:1837-1838.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

INTRODUCTION

A 28-YEAR-OLD man was "punished with the rope" (hanged) for criminal acts. His body was then transferred to a local physician for postmortem study, with emphasis on examination of the brain, ostensibly to search for possible reasons for the deceased's prior criminal behavior.

AUTOPSY FINDINGS

Specific postmortem findings are not available because the report cannot be located. However, based on the circumstances, a cause of death statement could be completed as follows:

COMMENT

The events described occurred in 1656 and were portrayed in a painting by Rembrandt entitled The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Joan Deyman.¹ Dr Deyman was praelector at the Surgeon's Guild and was also inspector of the Amsterdam medical colleges. The painting showed Dr Deyman, a group of students, and a cadaver with the calvaria removed and the brain exposed.

A more specific cause of death statement cannot be completed with reasonable certainty because it is unknown whether the man's . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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