Thomas Eakins's Agnew Clinic and John S. Sargent's Four Doctors: Sublimity, Decorum, and Professionalism

Thomas eakins's Agnew Clinic , 1889 (Figure 2), indisputably plays a role in illustrating a moment in the history of medicine and in revealing the value system of a changing medical community, but, as a self-consciously ambitious composition, it also situates itself in the history of artistic practice and patronage. My remarks here are intended to elaborate on aspects of that history relevant to Eakins's grand painting.