Rijksmuseum

Anatomical depiction of an ectopic pregnancy

Date

1672

Medium

paper

Culture

Netherlands

Institution

Rijksmuseum

Object ID

RP-P-BI-672

In 1672 physician and anatomist Reinier de Graaf published De mulierum organis, a book about the organs of the female body, with prints by Hendrik Bary. De Graaf was the first to conclude that a foetus grows from the mother’s egg cell after it is fertilised by the father’s seed. He also discusses anomalies such as ectopic pregnancies (when the fertilised egg implants outside the womb).

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