As the University of Cincinnati Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library welcomes the 2024-25 College of Medicine students and faculty back to the academic calendar, they are greeted by the new installation of MEDSTEPS. The sculpture is the work of renowned artist and scientist Wolfgang Ritschel (1933-2010). It is located on the G-level of the Health Sciences Library.
Dr. Ritschel described MEDSTEPS as:
Stairs may have different purposes and meanings. Essentially, they are a means to reaching different levels, both literally and figuratively speaking. This sculpture uses stairs or, rather steps on a ladder, as a metaphorical form of expression in paying tribute to the development and advancement of medicine from its beginnings at the dawn of time – including Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, and Native American medicine with their symbols as shown in the stained-glass panels – to computerized medicine, along with corresponding “step-by-step” technological progress in diagnosis and therapy. Medicine and the arts were always intertwined, as is suggested by the common expression “medical arts.” In fact, in 15th-century Europe, physicians, pharmacists and artists all belonged to the same guild, a development which presumably originated with the use of mortar and pestle as a grinding tool for both pharmaceutical substances and pigments. I like to think of this as part of my personal and artistic statement in sculptures with a medical theme.
The sculpture is composed of stainless steel, gold leaf, stained glass, lead, polymer, paint, wood and measures 91” x 51” x 22”.
Wolfgang Ritschel was born in Trauetenau, now referred to as Trutnov, located in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. He was raised in Vienna, Austria. Ritschel’s formal training in art began at age 14. He chose to pursue the study of science, earning a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Vienna while relegating his artistic endeavors as a form of relaxation and personal growth. He continued his education earning a master’s degree in pharmacy, and then doctorates in pharmacology and medicine. Ritschel taught at universities in Europe and Bangladesh. In 1968 he accepted an appointment at the University of Cincinnati as professor of pharmacology and cell biophysics in the College of Medicine, and professor of pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutics in the College of Pharmacy. While pursuing success as a researcher and professor, Ritschel nurtured his artistry at the Cincinnati Art Academy, Miami University and the Anderson Art Ranch in Colorado.
Ritschel credited his style and colorful aesthetic to his time in the Andes Mountains of Peru and Chile, as a Senior Fulbright Scholar. In addition to his paintings, Ritschel developed sculptures that combine art and science. These sculptures are composed of stained glass, stainless steel and medical instruments.
In addition to MEDSTEPS, Ritschel’s sculptures MEDICINE MAN, KEY TO LIFE III and TO SET THE RHYTHM STRAIGHT: PACEMAKER are located in the Health Sciences Library.
MEDICINE MAN towers in the library lobby on the E-level greeting library patrons as they pursue their studies.
Dr. Ritschel described MEDICINE MAN as:
The medicine man or shaman of the North and South American Indians played an important role in tribal life, health and welfare, as did the healer in many other cultures. He or she had the perceived power to control pain and other ailments that was given by a special spirit and taken into the body in a dream or condition of trance.
The sculpture is crowned by a skull reminiscent of a buffalo skull, ehich in conjunction with smoke from sweet grass fire was used by the shaman to cleanse the soul. Below the skull are three leaded, stained glass panels in steel frames. The upper panel depicts a white-headed eagle as it flies in the sky, symbolic of the shaman’s status. The middle panel shows the sun, the stars and the moon above a mesa and represents the material and spiritual world. Within the sun is the sun symbol, giving happiness. The lowest panel is an inverted, truncated pyramid with man-made, Indian shapes, design and colors. Over these are three symbols (from the top): the butterfly symbolizing everlasting life, the medicine man’s eye, indicating his or her wisdom and watchfulness, and the symbol for a shaman as used in rock paintings.
On the back of the sculpture are present-day medical instruments. The upper cluster includes a variety of instruments from tweezers to a scope. The lower arrangement bears hemostats in an S-shaped pattern, symbolizing openness and flexibility. The instruments and steel frame are painted green, the color of medicine, even though the usual “medicine” green has been adjusted to a hue-used “out West.” The sculpture is a tribute of respect for the shaman by the artist, who himself has a medical background.
MEDICINE MAN is made of stained glass, stainless steel, lead, paint and wood. It measures 100.5” x 22.5” x 23”.
KEY TO LIFE III and TO SET THE RHYTHM STRAIGHT: PACEMAKER are located in the Henry R. Winkler Center For the History of the Health Professions at the Health Sciences Library on the R-level.
Dr. Ritschel described KEY TO LIFE as:
Long before we had the scientific and technological wherewithal to decipher the workings of life processes and of human life in particular, it was a considerable imaginative and intellectual feat to even conceive of the possibility of “unlocking” this mystery in one way or another. The ancient Egyptians, for instance, already created the image of a “key to life” as artifact and divine symbol. We now have the DNA , a sequence of amino acids, phosphorus and ribose, forming the “double helix”, as a key of life available for scientific conceptualization and investigation. This elegant spiral staircase of biochemicals whose sequence in form of 30,000 genes holds the key to all functions necessary to life, is the make-up of who we are, how we look, and how we behave. Moreover, genes seem to be in part responsible for longevity and we learn constantly how any aberration of genes may manifest itself in the likelihood of becoming receptive to many diseases. In this sculpture, the double helix is represented by a spiraling sequence of keys, and the mapping of genes is indicated in the left-hand and middle stained-glass panels. The right-hand stained-glass panel is an abstraction of the helix, where the four colors metaphorically stand for the four basic amino acids, crowned by the Anglo-Saxon ‘rune’ or symbol for life, and the ancient Egyptians symbol “key of life”. And since the materials of the sculpture are inorganic in nature, but the subject matter is “life”, a section of a tree trunk – organic matter – is used as a pedestal.
Dr. Ritschel created KEY TO LIFE III of stainless steel, surgical instruments, stained glass, paint, wood and epoxy.
Displayed adjacent to KEY TO LIFE III is an ode to advancements in cardiology. Dr. Ritschel described TO SET THE RHYTHM STRAIGHT: PACEMAKER as:
Our heart beats for us from intra-uterine time throughout our life until we depart as beings from this world. Whether we sleep, work, run, dance, play cards, laugh, climb mountains, fly into the sky or dive into the deep sea, our heart beats, adjusting its rhythm automatically to our demands on it. The rhythm is regulated by a cascade of biochemical events resulting in electrical impulses. In certain diseases and disrhythmias an electronic device called pacemaker (round box in the pocket of the chest) fires impulses according the patient’s needs. Electrodes (wires) are firmly attached to the heart. The offset position of the heart metaphorically indicates the dysrhythmia in need of the pacemaker. The stained-glass panels in the background symbolize the tranquility and quality of life (represented by the blue-purple) brought about by the medical procedure (the green color of medicine).
Like many of Ritschel’s sculptures, he utilized stainless steel, surgical instruments, primarily hemostats and clamps, stained glass, lead, paint, wood and epoxy in its’ creation. TO SET THE RHYTHM STRAIGHT: PACEMAKER measures 25.6” x 19.7” x 7.9”.
Dr. Ritschel’s legacy as a scientist, professor, painter and sculptor serve as an inspiration to the College of Medicine’s students, faculty and staff. The Health Sciences Library is honored to display his artistry.
Photos by UC Libraries design co-op student Lexi Davis.
