Body Double

Stereographic X-rays in the Rijksmuseum’s Collection

Abstract

The Rijksmuseum’s collection contains a number of X-rays, part of a series entitled Das Arteriensystem des Menschen im stereoskopischen Röntgenbild: ten stereoscopic X-rays that show the blood vessels and arteries in different parts of the body in adults and children. They were taken by three doctors, Otto Hildebrand, Wilhelm Scholz and Julius Wieting, from Hamburg-Eppendorf Hospital, and published by the scientific publishing house of J.F. Bergmann in Wiesbaden between 1901 and 1917. This article tries to nuance the view of stereoscopic photographs as merely a cheap source of entertainment; physicians deliberately opted for stereoscopic photographs to show the plasticity and depth of the human body.