Paul Richer: “un médicin, doublé d’un artiste”

Abstract

The article examines the ambiguous figure of Paul Richter, disciple and collaborator of Jean-Martin Charcot. Taking into account his clinical formation at the Salpêtrière hospital, marked by the pictorial – and visual – approach of a teaching system that had just been revolutionized by the introduction of the anatomo-clinical method, it is possible to detect an epistemological démarche in which nosography blends with artistic mediums in the diagnosis of the “elusive” hysteria, leading to the production of groundbreaking œuvres d’art scientifiques. Finally the article analizes his important contribution to another well-renowned Parisian institution, l’École National Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, where he taught artistic anatomy, introducing scientific materials and equipments, and demonstrating an innovative attention towards the morphology and movement of the human body.