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The Gross Clinic is an oil on canvas painting by American artist Thomas Eakins. Included among the group is a self-portrait of Eakins, who is seated to the right of the tunnel railing, sketching or writing.
The painting is shocking for both its bold presentation and the matter-of-fact goriness of the procedure. Adding to the drama is the lone woman in the painting seen in the middle ground, possibly the patient's mother, cringing in distress. Her dramatic figure functions as a strong contrast to the calm, professional demeanor of the men who surround the patient. This bloody and very blunt depiction of surgery was shocking at the time it was first exhibited.
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