Except for a period of study in Europe and a trip to the western United States, Eakins lived his entire life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here he learned manual dexterity and precision from his father, a master of the art of writing and caligraphy. He had a sound education, doing well in his studies, especially math and the sciences. His interest in art led him to enroll in the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he developed his knowledge of the live model by attending medical lectures in anatomy at the nearby Jefferson Medical College, witnessing operations and dissections by Doctor Samuel Gross, one of the 19th century's brilliant American surgeons. | Except for a period of study in Europe and a trip to the western United States, Eakins lived his entire life in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here he learned manual dexterity and precision from his father, a master of the art of writing and caligraphy. He had a sound education, doing well in his studies, especially math and the sciences. His interest in art led him to enroll in the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, where he developed his knowledge of the live model by attending medical lectures in anatomy at the nearby Jefferson Medical College, witnessing operations and dissections by Doctor Samuel Gross, one of the 19th century's brilliant American surgeons. |