The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp is a 1632 oil-on-canvas painting by
Rembrandt housed in the
Mauritshuis museum in
The Hague, Netherlands. The painting is regarded as one of Rembrandt's early masterpieces. In the work,
Nicolaes Tulp is pictured explaining the
musculature of the arm to a group of doctors. Some of the spectators are various doctors who paid to be included in the painting. The painting is signed in the top-left hand corner
Rembrandt. f[ecit] 1632. This may be the first instance of Rembrandt signing a painting with his forename (in its original form) as opposed to the monogram
RHL ("Rembrandt Harmenszoon of
Leiden"), and is thus a sign of his growing artistic confidence.
Painting credit: Rembrandt