[ book tip by Tamar Tembeck ] This excellent catalogue assembles a vast collection of images and essays which elucidate the persistent links between art and medicine in the Western world. The authors present an iconographic history of pain and healing in art, culminating in the 19th century. They proceed to outline the different modalities of art and medicine combinations, citing the therapeutic function of ex-votos, the art object as talisman, and the practical power of icons (as forms that 'act'). Finally, they investigate how the therapeutic functions of art are found again, in different forms, in art of the 20th century.

[ book info ] Davila, Thierry et al: l'art médecine.