Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Annunciation, 1898. Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Created by a team of patients, physicians, educators, and trainees at Penn Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, and partnering arts institutions, the portal features twelve exceptional works of art, organized by theme, to support healing through a humanistic lens, and infuse the humanities into everyday spaces of caregiving. It is inspired by arts and healing programs in hospitals across the country, and builds upon the growing consensus that art in spaces of caregiving can be transformative.
We offer these artworks and reflections as a daily antidote to uncertainty—a kind of prescription for finding connection, meaning, and hope. Each artwork is accompanied by a description, historical context, and several questions, which might relate to your own experience and help you reflect on what it means to heal. Reflections on Philadelphia painter Henry Ossawa Tanner’s iconic painting The Annunciation, for example, prompt readers to consider the painting’s characteristic warmth, asking “Where is the ‘light’ in your life? How can these sources of light and warmth illuminate everyday moments of connection?”