The famous painting by Hans Holbein, celebrating the 1540 union of the Barbers and the Surgeons to form the Company of Barber-Surgeons, is well known. The work commemorates a milestone in the history of English surgery, but it is also important in another context. Group portraits of professionals were virtually unknown in England at this time, in contrast to portrayals of royalty or aristocratic families. This seems to be the earliest depiction of a group of eminent medical men with the King; the Holbein painting is unique in this respect.
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