During the 17th century, tooth extractions were sometimes performed as part of a performance by travelling actors. These troupes travelled around the country with specialist tooth-drawers who had the skills, experience and expensive tools needed for such procedures. Many of these tools can be seen in this painting.<\/p>\n
Although despised by local Guild surgeons, these troupes were very popular attractions and fairs and markets for not only carrying out\u00a0a useful service but also for offering\u00a0brilliant entertainment..<\/p>\n
In this painting, the leader of the troupe performs – or pretends to perform – a tooth extraction, surrounded by fellow actors\u00a0pretending to be\u00a0casual bystanders. They are trying to trick a man in the right foreground to volunteer to have a bad tooth extracted or to buy medicine to ease the pain.<\/p>\n
This painting is an example \u00a0of\u00a0Caravaggesque style, named after the Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caragaggio, whose paintings were famous for their realistic observation of physical and emotional human states with dramatic use of lighting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During the 17th century, tooth extractions were sometimes performed as part of a performance by travelling actors. These troupes travelled around the country with specialist tooth-drawers who had the skills, experience and expensive tools needed for such procedures. Many of these tools can be seen in this painting. Although despised by local Guild surgeons, these … Continue reading An Operator Extracting a Tooth<\/span>