Cornelis Dusart
Dutch, 1660-1704
The Cupper (Kopster)
INV-1089
Cornelis Dusart
Dutch, 1660-17041695
The Cupper (Kopster)
Cornelis Dusart Dutch, 1660-1704 →engravingprint
Date
1695
Medium
Etching on paper
Dimensions
Image: 22.3 × 17 cm (8 13/16 × 6 3/4 in.); Platemark: 25.7 × 17.6 cm (10 1/8 × 6 15/16 in.); Sheet: 26.3 × 18.1 cm (10 3/8 × 7 3/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
The Wallace L. DeWolf and Joseph Brooks Fair Collections
A wince-inducing, humorously sexualized take on now outdated medical practices, Cornelis Dusart’s etching shows a woman undergoing minor surgery. Possibly to alleviate a female complaint, heated glass cups are applied to her feet. These raise blood-filled boils, which the attendant then lances and purges of bad blood. The appended verses and the bill of fare hanging on the mantelpiece both mention clystering as a subsequent treatment option: the upward diagonal angle of the clyster (an enema or douche) in the male attendant’s belt lends credence to the implication that the treatment doubled as an ersatz form of sexual congress.
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