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Throughout time from antiquity, the major objective of crutches was to restore, as close as possible, the functional capacity formerly held by a limb deficient person. The crutch is probably the oldest tool of the orthopaedist. It is probably also the most neglected in terms of progress from antiquity until the 20th century. The aim of this paper is to give a view of the different crutches used in this period by different people and to observe the influence of this period on the progress of the design of crutches.

Introduction: Disability is a complex phenomenon, and the ways it has been conceived, explained and treated have varied notably throughout history. As the years go by, human beings have evolved and, at the same time, so have medicine and art. And therein lies the extraordinary value, from the ontological point of view, of many works of art, which would never have been produced without the intervention of disease and the practice of the medical art. The aim of this work is to address the study of some deficiencies, disabilities and neurological pathologies that have been represented in paintings at different times in history., Development: This article begins with the study of pictures that deal with dwarves and other misnamed freaks of nature that have been represented by painters from Velazquez to Titian or Rubens. The study looks at paintings of cripples, pictures containing the mentally disabled, with examples by Bruegel the Elder or Munch, as well as certain neurological disorders that have been portrayed in paintings, such as Escaping criticism by Pere Borrell or Sad inheritance by Sorolla. Likewise, we also reflect on the trite concept of disease and artistic creativity., Conclusions: The artistic representation of deficiency and disability has evolved in parallel to the feelings of men and women in each period of history and, at the same time, their social evolution. Nowadays, this concept continues to advance and some artists no longer represent the sick person, but instead the illness itself.

Oliver Auge shows in this article that, in the late Middle Ages, the consequences of invalidity due to fighting and jousts ranged between exclusion and appreciation--a similar pattern to what can be observed in the ancient Roman Republic. As the majority of medieval sources do not provide any information concerning this topic, Auge concludes that affected nobles were either seen as disturbing elements within the society or they even regarded themselves as such. But they met with social approval as soon as they explicitly identified themselves as former participants of wars or jousts that had caused their invalidity or if their performance was above the norm. A remarkable amount of evidence for this phenomenon appeared around the year 1500 leading the author to conclude that the view of disability gradually changed with the transition from Middle Ages to Modernity. Examples like that of Götz of Berlichingen's iron hand or the striking profile of the often portrayed Federico da Montefeltro, on the other hand, show that physical integrity was still the standard.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the visual representation of dignity, through the particular example of the seventeenth century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. Velázquez works at a point in Western history when modern conceptions of dignity are beginning to be formed. It is argued that Velázquez' portraits of royalty and aristocracy articulate a tension between a feudal conception of majesty and a modern conception of the dignity of merit. On this level, modern conceptions of dignity of merit are understood in terms of a struggle to excel in particular activities, and thus to overcome the risk of failure. More radically, Velázquez' portraits of dwarfs and the mentally disabled are argued to be expressive of dignity, not by finding a positive representation of the sitter's dignity, or to find scales of activities by which they can be positively assessed, but rather by grounding their dignity, negatively, in a protest against indignity and humiliation. Drawing on Honneth's analysis of dignity in terms of a theory of recognition, it is argued that the indignity of the court dwarf lies in the fracturing of their communication with the rest of society. The task of repairing that fractured communication is achieved, not by representing a dignified ideal, but rather by drawing attention to the prejudices that serve to exclude the humiliated from full participation in society. In conclusion, it is suggested that the conceptualisation and representation of the elderly today finds effective exemplars in Velázquez' portraits of court dwarfs, rather than in his portraits of the elderly.

A votive painting in the chapel of St. Donatus in Pavlovec (northern Croatia) from the 18th century depicts St Notburga of Eben with two paupers, a shepherd and an invalid. Although generally venerated as patron-saint of peasants and maids, Notburga seems to have captured the imagination of the anonymous painter as the helper of the poor and underprivileged. The vicious circle of poverty and disease is evoked by this painting, as well as the popular belief in divine assistance by supplication to patron saints.

Background: At the start of the Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010, a paleopathologic study of the physically disabled may yield information and insight on the prevalence of crippling disorders and attitudes towards the afflicted in the past compared to today., Objective: To analyze "The procession of the Cripples," a representative drawing of 31 disabled individuals by Hieronymus Bosch in 1500., Methods: Three specialists--a rheumatologist, an orthopedic surgeon and a neurologist--analyzed each case by problem-solving means and clinical reasoning in order to formulate a consensus on the most likely diagnosis., Results: This iconographic study of cripples in the sixteenth century reveals that the most common crippling disorder was not a neural form of leprosy, but rather that other disorders were also prevalent, such as congenital malformation, dry gangrene due to ergotism, post-traumatic amputations, infectious diseases (Pott's, syphilis), and even simulators. The drawings show characteristic coping patterns and different kinds of crutches and aids., Conclusion: A correct clinical diagnosis can be reached through the collaboration of a rheumatologist, an orthopedist and a neurologist. The Bone and Joint Decade Project, calling for attention and education with respect to musculoskeletal disorders, should reduce the impact and burden of crippling diseases worldwide through early clinical diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

That nursing is an art as well as a science is in danger of becoming a cliché unless attempts are made to reverse the marginalization and exclusion of arts and humanities within nursing. An educational approach to promoting more esthetic and less instrumental thinking and understanding is described. This approach enables nurses to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of suffering, chronic pain, miscarriage, and disability through engaging with the art of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.