A surgeon binding up a woman's arm after bloodletting. Oil painting by Jacob Toorenvliet, 1666.

Bloodletting from a vein was recommended when the hot and the wet were considered excessive, either in the body as a whole or in a particular part of the body. The surgeon would typically pierce a vein with the tip of a lancet-blade, and collect the blood in a bowl. Two such bowls are shown on the table in the painting. The surgeon is either undoing a tourniquet which was used to collect the blood in the forearm, or bandaging the incision