• Colour drawing of a staged theatrical scene framed by two symmetrical classical structures with niches containing gilded statues, flanked by trees. At the centre, a painted backdrop shows an island within an archipelago, with a visible settlement; in the foreground, a vessel approaches the shore. Four figures stand before the backdrop holding branches and other objects. The composition is enclosed within a thin rectangular gold border.
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, 1632. Mauritshuis, Den Hague.

Finn Fordham on the Anatomy of Moments

Singing in a choir recently I was lucky enough to experience some intense moments, and less lucky in my attempts to think (again), about ‘moments’, the topic of my inaugural lecture, published in Volume 13.2 of Modernist Cultures. We were singing…