Max Brödel (1870-1941), a pioneer in neurosurgical illustration

A. García-Molina, A. Enseñat-Cantallops
Neurosciences and History 2019;7(2):77-82

Type of article: SHORT ARTICLE

AUTHORS

A. García-Molina^1,2,3,4, A. Enseñat-Cantallops^1,2,3
1Institut Guttmann. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
²Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
³Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
⁴Laboratorio de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Social. School of Psychology, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile.

ABSTRACT

This study reviews the role of the German illustrator Max Brödel (1870-1941) in the field of neurosurgical illustration. His illustrations are characterised by meticulous planning, exquisite topographical accuracy, and astounding neuroanatomical realism. In 1894, Brödel moved to Baltimore to work at Johns Hopkins Hospital with the gynaecologist Howard Kelly. There he became a close friend of Harvey Cushing, the father of modern neurosurgery, with whom he worked regularly. In 1911, Brödel created the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, training nearly 200 medical illustrators over three decades. Dorcas Hager Padget, one of Brödel’s best students, worked with neurosurgeon Walter Dandy for over a decade. Other students, including Mildred Codding, William McNett, and Ralph Witherow, also worked for Cushing and Dandy. The department’s only British student, Audrey Juliet Arnott, worked with the neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns.

KEYWORDS

20th century history, brain, Max Brödel, medical illustration, neurosurgery, photography

Neurosciences and History 2019;7(2):77-82