Explore our exhibition, ‘A taste of one’s own medicine: medical satire at the Royal College of Physicians’, with an expert guide. Discover the enduring appeal of satirical images, and how doctors have been ridiculed, reprimanded and maligned for centuries.
Graphic satire has been popular for hundreds of years. The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) cares for a unique collection of medical satire prints from the mid-18th century to the 1980s, donated to us by doctors and members over our 500-year history.
In the past, as today, satirical images were closely tied to a particular time and place. They responded to contemporary events and were viewed by audiences who understood the circumstances of their creation, meaning they can now be difficult to understand.
From stereotypes of doctors to caricatures of individuals, satirical depictions of treatments to scathing attacks on the RCP, join us for a tour of ‘A taste of one’s own medicine’ to explore the complex and intriguing meanings behind the satirical prints in the RCP’s collection.