Tenth International Conference on The Image

Abstract

The French pathologist Jean Cruveilhier (1791-1874) argued that phlebitis dominated all of pathology. But what prompted Cruveilhier to make such a bold declaration? This seemingly audacious claim was grounded in Cruveilhier’s observations of his patients and the post-mortem examinations he conducted on their corpses. Moreover, because he had accounts from living patients and could visualize the apparent “progression” of disease and inflammation along the veins during autopsy, Cruveilhier reasoned that the veins served as conduits that facilitated the spread of disease to different parts of the body. For Cruveilhier, visualization was an important method of pathological inquiry that aided in observing the features of a disease, particularly phlebitis and related disorders. This paper argues that images of diseases of the blood and veins in Jean Cruveilhier’s substantial anatomical atlas, Anatomie pathologique du corps humain (1829-1842), facilitated a more nuanced look at the pathology of diseases of the blood and veins. Cruveilhier’s work on phlebitis and its relationship to broader conceptions of the vascular system and pathology—especially through the use of visual images—has been neglected by historians. An analysis of the interplay between art history and medical inquiry in the context of Cruveilhier’s pathological images of phlebitis sheds light on how nineteenth century pathologists conceptualized and understood disease.