Surgical Illustration

Samuel Benavente

1699

Facing-page manuscript with illustration on right page depicting individual lying on operating table with two men in curly wigs in coats and breeches holding down his wrists and feet and another with his hand on patient's shoulders; and left page with Portuguese text only.
These pages are from a manuscript, De dificuldade de ourinar (On Difficulty in Urinating), by a Jewish physician and surgeon in Amsterdam, Samuel de Leon Benavente (1643–1722). He was known for his skill at removing kidney stones, as in the operation depicted here.

Credits

Collection Ets Haim — Livraria Montezinos, Amsterdam, EH 48 D 32.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.

Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Samuel Benavente

16th Century–17th Century

Samuel Benavente was a surgeon in Amsterdam, where, in 1710, he became the first Jewish physician to be admitted to the surgeon’s guild.

You may also like

Midrashim of Redemption

And I will wait upon the Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him. (Isaiah 8:16) I endeavored to place before the educated reader all the literature of redemption…
View Source

Diary Entry: On Being a Jew

January 8. Lecture by [Leo] Fantl on Goldhaupt, “he tosses the enemy like a barrel.”   Insecurity, dryness, tranquility, in these everything will pass.   What do I have in common with Jews? I have…
View Source