The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp scene. The face of the corpse is partially shaded, a suggestion of "umbra mortis" (shadow of death), a technique that Rembrandt was to use frequently. The French art historian Jean-Marie Clarke points out that the navel of the corpse has the shape of a capital R and connects this observation to the fact that Rembrandt worked intensively on his signatures in 1632, using three types consecutively before settling on the final, first name form in 1633. Kindt was discussed in the 1999 novel "The Rings of Saturn" by W. G. Sebald, and plays a significant role in Laird Hunt's 2006
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp scientist such as Dr. Tulp would not be involved in menial and bloody work like dissection, and such tasks would be left to others. It is for this reason that the picture shows no cutting instruments. Instead we see in the lower right corner an enormous open textbook on anatomy, possibly the 1543 "De humani corporis fabrica" ("Fabric of the Human Body") by Andreas Vesalius. The corpse is that of the criminal Aris Kindt (alias of Adriaan Adriaanszoon), who was convicted for armed robbery and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed earlier on the same day of the