Artwork
A Physician with a Urine Sample
A Physician with a Urine Sample is an oil painting by the Caravaggisti artist Trophime Bigot. It dates from 1630 and is held in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum.
About this work
Overview
A Physician with a Urine Sample is a 1630 oil painting by Trophime Bigot, a French artist known for his dramatic use of light and shadow.
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a seated man in dark attire examining a glass flask containing a yellow liquid, likely urine, amidst a cluttered table with writing materials and a book, conveying a sense of quiet contemplation.
Technique & Style
Bigot's use of chiaroscuro creates depth and contrast, highlighting the flask and the man's face against a dark background, exemplifying the caravaggist style with its stark lighting and naturalistic detail.
History & Provenance
The painting is part of the Ashmolean Museum's collection, created during Bigot's period in Italy, where he worked between 1620 and 1634 before returning to Arles.
Artist & collection
Artist
Trophime Bigot (1579–1650), also known as Théophile Bigot, Teofili Trufemondi, the Candlelight Master (Maître à la Chandelle), was a French painter of the Baroque era, active in Rome and his native Provence.
