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French version: German version:
The Operation of the Bladder Stone
Marin Marais That the 18th Century was not always a felicitous menuet is clearly shown by these documents on a surgical operation of note (no pun intended). The extraction of bladder stones was a common surgical procedure, which some patients, apparently like the French composer, Marin Marais, were lucky enough to survive to talk about it. Marais recorded his traumatic experience for posterity by composing a macabre-amusing piece for narrator, viola da gamba and continuo, describing the operation step-by-step... (Thanks to Felix Büchler and Dr. Beatrix Günczler for their research, Claudine Salomon-Moutot for the recitation of the French text according to the manner prescribed by Racine for French theater and singing.) See also: Orpheon Panorama
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The patient (and composer), Marin Marais
The surgeon
The equipment
The equipment
The equipment
The equipment
The operating table
The operating table in use!
The operating table in use!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Marin Marais: The Operation of the Bladder Stone
Marin Marais: The Operation of the Bladder Stone
Exact reconstruction of an operating table of the 18th C.
Exact reconstruction of an operating table of the 18th C.
Original surgical tools from the Museum of Medicine and the Pathology Museum, Vienna
Original surgical tools from the Museum of Medicine and the Pathology Museum, Vienna
Original surgical tools from the Museum of Medicine, Vienna
Original surgical tools from the Museum of Medicine, Vienna
Original surgical tools from the Museum of Medicine, Vienna
Original bladder stones from the Pathology Museum, Vienna
Painting (17thC) of a bladder stone, from the Pathology Museum, Vienna
Original surgical tools from the Pathology Museum, Vienna