Field Visit
Date 23 July 1999
Event ID 612242
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/612242
Monument to Archbishop Tait.
The monument consists of a colossal bust placed in an architectural frame set into the eastern façade of the Medical School. The framework includes a pedestal about five feet high, divided into three compartments. In the central one is the inscription. On the pedestal are two grey granite columns which support an entablature with sculptured panels in the frieze. The central panel contains a mitre, crosier and pastoral staff; the side panels contain the monogram IHS and the crest and motto of Tait's family. The entablature is surmounted by a pediment, in which is a bronze panel showing two cherubs supporting an Italian shield bearing the arms of the See of Canterbury impaled with those of the Tait family.
The monument was funded by public subscription, and was designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson. The bust is by Mario Raggi, cast by the founders Young & Co. of the Eccleston Works in Pimlico. The ceremony of handing the monument over to the University of Edinburgh took place on 27 February 1885.
The site was chosen because it is where the house stood in which Archbishop Tait was born.
Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury
Inscriptions : In panel beneath bust and niche (incised gilded letters):
TO COMMEMORATE / IN HIS NATIVE COUNTRY / THE PIETY THE VIRTUES AND THE WISDOM / OF / ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL TAIT / ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY / 1868 - 1882 / FRIENDS AND ADMIRERS IN SCOTLAND / HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT / ON THE SITE OF THE HOUSE / IN WHICH HE WAS BORN
On scroll of coat of arms (raised letters): PRO REGE ET PATRIA
Signatures : On metal pedestal of bust at right hand side: M.RAGGI Sc. / LONDON 1884
Design period : 1884-1885
Year of unveiling : 1885
Unveiling details : 27 February 1885
Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0002)
