page_title: Gustavus Murray
section_title: The Doctor
hierarchical_section_title: Gustavus Murray / The Doctor
caption_attribution_description: English: Beautiful panorama of the traditional medical profession. Notice the doctor in the foreground contemplating his patient, intrigued, trying to scrutinize the pathophysiology to achieve an effective therapy. We also see the sick girl, possibly victim of some of the terrible incurable infectious febrile diseases in the preantibiotic era, pale, weak, asleep. Deep down we see the dismayed mother, worried, hoping for the worst. Also notable is the expression of the father, who cannot contain his concern about his daughter's illness, but who has to remain calm to give comfort to the grieving mother. Español: Hermosa panorama de la profesión médica tradicional. Nótese al Médico en primer plano contemplando a su paciente, intrigado, tratando de escudriñar la fisiopatología para lograr emprender una terapéutica efectiva. Vemos también a la niña enferma, posiblemente victima de alguna de las terribles enfermedades febriles infecciosas incurables en la era preantibiótica, pálida, débil,dormida. En el fondo vemos a la consternada madre, preocupada, esperando lo peor. Es también notable la expresión del padre, quién no puede contener su preocupación ante la enfermedad de su hija, pero que tiene que mantener la calma para dar consuelo a la afligida madre.
context_page_description: Gustavus Charles Philip Murray was a British obstetrician who may have been the inspiration for Luke Fildes' 1891 painting The Doctor. His work in the examination of pregnant women was recognised by Adolphe Pinard in 1889 but ignored in England. He was popular with his patients and had a thriving practice with many professional appointments but as a result wrote little. He died at the age of 56 years from heart failure.
context_section_description: Murray's professional demeanor may have been the inspiration for the attentive and concerned physician in Luke Fildes' painting The Doctor (1891) after he attended the artist's first child, Philip, when he became ill and died at Christmas 1877. Murray and Fildes were well known to each other and Murray had delivered all the Fildes children. The artist's son, also Luke Fildes, wrote in his biography of his father:
  "The character and bearing of their doctor throughout the time of their anxiety, made a deep impression on my parents. Dr Murray became a symbol of professional devotion which would one day inspire the painting of The Doctor." And: "The Doctor had been on my father's mind ever since Dr Murray watched over Philip".
  Fildes junior made it clear in his book, however, that the figure in the painting was a composite of several people, including Fildes' friend Dr Thomas Buzzard.
caption: The Doctor, Luke Fildes, 1891. Oil-on-canvas, Tate Gallery, London.[14]
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