title: Rembrandt's doctors.
abstract: Medical doctors appear in numerous Rembrandt paintings and reciprocally, physicians interested in art have used their diagnostic skills in dissecting the painter's work, especially his lifetime of self-portraits. The possible existence of skin and eye diseases, hypothyroidism and Horton's disease, and psychiatric and psychological traits has been a matter of everlasting debate, as summarised in the present paper. Most of all, the ageing process reveals itself over time in the continuity of the self-portraits. In the quest for signs of illness, the slightest bump in the canvas can be considered a symptom, and the examination of Rembrandt's self-portraits is a difficult exercise. However, the resulting published papers have given rise to a great number of diagnostic hypotheses.
authors.affiliation: Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Service du Pr Fabiani, Histoire de la Médecine, Université René Descartes, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abastado
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chemla