This is not how defenses look at Michigan! It is a painting from 1840 by Johann Peter Hasenclever entitled "Hieronymus Jobs at His Exam" that is presently on display at the Neue Pinothek in Munich. The museum page for the painting is here.
Defenses at UWO were modestly formal in the sense that the student and some of the faculty would be dressed differently than usual in a relative sense if not necessarily well dressed in an absolute sense. Defenses at Maryland and Michigan are remarkably informal. I still remember one of the first defenses at Maryland where I showed up in a tie and the student showed up in sweat pants and a t-shirt. No more ties after that for me.
Given that the defenses at Michigan (in particular) are more like unusually important meetings I guess I am fine with the informality. Typically the two defenses are the only time that the student and his or her entire committee meet with the committee members all having just read the most recent versions of the various papers that comprise the dissertations. Also, defenses at Michigan typically never have any outsiders. Such meetings are very useful to the student, but it is far from the sort of public spectacle that happens at some European universities at the time of the final defense.
Hat tip: Anya Chung
