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The First Operation with Ether: A Historical and Medical Perspective

This guide provides more information on the painting, The First Operation with Ether, as well as the history of anesthesia.

The First Operation with Ether: An Introduction to the Painting and Resource Guide

An image of Hinkley's Painting "Ether Day, or The First Operation Under Ether" with a patient under anesthesia.

The First Operation with Ether (1882-1893); artist Robert Cutler Hinckley; oil on canvas, 96 × 115 in (243.8 × 292.1 cm). Original file: Public Domain.

Boston Medical Library SealThe Lamar Soutter Library welcomes the historically significant Robert C. Hinckley painting, The First Operation with Ether. Through the generosity of the Boston Medical Library, this original work of art will be on permanent display in the Lamar Soutter Library and can be viewed during regular hours of operation.
 

The First Operation with Ether: Medical History in the Making

The most famous of his paintings, Hinckley's The First Operation with Ether was started in Paris in 1882, and depicts the first successful public demonstration [1] of ether anesthesia, which took place in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 16, 1846 [2]. William Thomas Morton, dentist and physician, served as anesthesiologist while Dr. John Collins Warren, a surgeon at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, performed surgery on a patient’s neck [3]. The painting is now on display at UMass Chan Medical School's Lamar Soutter Library.

There is a remaining controversy surrounding the painting, involving those who are depicted in it. Hinckley includes Charles Hosea Hildreth, Abel Lawrence Peirson, Jonathan Mason Warren, and physician William Williamson Wellington; these individuals are all highly unlikely to have been present during the operation. Additionally, he did not include two surgeons who were very likely present during the procedure - Samuel Parkman and George Hayward [4]. Though it is unknown why Hinckley omitted two individuals, he likely added the others because of their role in the medical history of Boston.

[1] Thomas, Roger K. “The Surprising (and Long) Story of the First Use of Ether in Surgery.” The Conversation, 28 Mar. 2019, http://theconversation.com/the-surprising-and-long-story-of-the-first-use-of-ether-in-surgery-113340.
[2] “Ether Dome.” Wikipedia, 31 Dec. 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether_Dome.
[3] “History of Anaesthesia.” WFSA, https://wfsahq.org/about/history/history-of-anaesthesia. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
[4] Desai, Sukumar P., et al. “A Tale of Two Paintings: Depictions of the First Public Demonstration of Ether Anesthesia.” Anesthesiology, vol. 106, no. 5, May 2007, pp. 1046–50.