ASSOCIATED OBJECTS

Handle as a gymnast

Roman, 0 - 100 CE
LFRD 3398

This bronze figure of a handle as a gymnast bears a striking resemblance to the image displayed in the top left-hand corner of André Brouillet’s painting Une leçon clinique du Dr. Charcot à la Salpêtrière. The unnatural ‘arched’ position of the subject’s back became known as the Arc de cercle.

The circular arc – “arc de cercle”, Paul Richer, Études cliniques sur l’hystéro-épilepsie ou grand hystérie (Paris, 1885).