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How many times have I viewed this iconic photo of Freud, my eye attracted to his sagacious quizzical visage, his well-trimmed beard, the defiantly displayed cigar, his seeming irritation at being photographed, his unruffled three-piece suit with flamboyant watch fob? Although said to be camera-shy, Freud did permit a family friend, Max Halberstadt, to formally photograph him in 1932, seven years before his death at 83, perhaps in anticipation by both of his impending death and legacy.
Viewing the striking photo on this particular occasion, my gaze fixates on some small object protruding from under his jacket, perhaps in an inside vest pocket. My curiosity is piqued. And in venerated psychoanalytic free association mode, I wander and wonder.
My first guess about the hidden object is that it is one earpiece of a binaural stethoscope. But why at his age would he be carrying such an instrument? He had long since abandoned medical practice in favor of a new way of looking at illness, so why would he continue to carry a half-concealed stethoscope? Binaural instruments were in long-time use in his medical school and practice years before this photo was taken. The stethoscope had been invented by the French physician Laennac in 1816; Golding Bird had developed a stethoscope
Acknowledgement
The author gratefully thanks Dr. Eric D. Lipsitt and Dr. Betty J. Grossman for helpful readings of this manuscript.