The Anatomy Lesson Quotes

“A portrait can freeze time, prevent aging, remove wrinkles and imperfections, and even dispense with death altogether if the sitter manages to live on in paint.”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson

“But what if the soul can't be found in the organs or the limbs? What if the soul of a man is found in his very life? What if the soul is not material but active? What if it's somehow connected to how we make use of our gifts?”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson

“This, I thought, was a portrait of human cruelty. It told of how men ravage one another in search of truth. How they carve each other up in the name of justice, and how they fail to see their own brutality.”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson

“...only great love can overcome man's cruelty. Only true hearts, people with courage to love, people with a mind to forgiveness.”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson: A Novel

“There is nothing dirty about the anatomy. I love the anatomy; it is my birthright, my legacy, my very parentage. I love its ceremony and its pomp; I love the doctor's feigned authority and the spectators' awe and civility. But amid all the bloodletting, cutting, lecturing, banqueting, torch-lighting, and debauchery, the scientists - ... - are doing something important. Like the Egyptians before them, they are building the foundations of a civilization.”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson

“He will go on painting until he gets it all right. Until there are layers and layers of pigment that will never be diminished. Not by his death, not by his time, not by any time. Cologne earth, Kassel earth, lead white, umber, red lake, vermilion, yellow ocher, red ocher, bone black.”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson

“Hij was een mens, en hij was vlees en botten en geest en ziel. Zij had van hem gehouden. De Ritselaer had hem gekocht, dokter Tulp had hem gevorderd voor de wetenschap en ik had hem willen hebben voor de kunst. Allemaal wilden we zijn vlees. Allemaal wilden we iets met het lichaam van deze man. Maar hij behoorde toe aan geen van ons. Hij was alleen maar Aris, de dief.”
― Nina Siegal, The Anatomy Lesson