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Edinburgh, Nicolson Street, Surgeons' Hall
College (19th Century), Museum (20th Century), Office (19th Century)
Site Name Edinburgh, Nicolson Street, Surgeons' Hall
Classification College (19th Century), Museum (20th Century), Office (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Royal College Of Surgeons
Canmore ID 52407
Site Number NT27SE 363
NGR NT 26096 73268
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/52407
- Council Edinburgh, City Of
- Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
- Former Region Lothian
- Former District City Of Edinburgh
- Former County Midlothian
ARCHITECT: W H Playfair, 1832.
Built 1829-32, architect W H Playfair; altered and added to by A F Balfour Paul, 1908-9 when a pediment dated 1697 from the Old Surgeons' Hall was inserted.
RCAHMS 1951; J Gifford, C McWilliam and D Walker 1984.
EXTERNAL REFERENCE
National Records of Scotland:
Memorial of the President and Fellows to the Treasury, seeking a grant towards the cost of erecting a new hall and apartments to receive a museum of Morbid Anatomy.
1825
GD51/5/708/1-2
Project (1997)
The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (http://www.pmsa.org.uk/) set up a National Recording Project in 1997 with the aim of making a survey of public monuments and sculpture in Britain ranging from medieval monuments to the most contemporary works. Information from the Edinburgh project was added to the RCAHMS database in October 2010 and again in 2012.
The PMSA (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association) Edinburgh Sculpture Project has been supported by Eastern Photocolour, Edinburgh College of Art, the Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, Historic Scotland, the Hope Scott Trust, The Old Edinburgh Club, the Pilgrim Trust, the RCAHMS, and the Scottish Archive Network.
Field Visit (18 June 2003)
A gigantic pair of stylised hands holds vertically an enormous scalpel. The beaten bronze forms overlap with open areas around the joints and fingernails, lightening and animating the sculpture at close range. A celtic pattern is incorporated into the scalpel. The sharpness and rigidity of the blade contrasts with the rounded forms of the hands. The construction of the hand suggests armour.
The sculpture is by Denys Mitchell; Forbes Davidson, building contractors, were responsible for the foundations; Harley Haddow Partnership were the consulting engineers. David Kirkwood of Alex Kirkwood & Sons, medallists and engravers, made the plaque and stone.
The sculpture uses the motto of the Royal College of Surgeons. It emphasises "the importance of manual dexterity in the healing process" (press release).
Inspected By : D.King
Inscriptions : On square bronze plaque on angled stone in front of sculpture (raised letters): HINC SANITAS / FROM HERE HEALTH / THIS SCULPTURE BY / MR DENYS MITCHELL / WAS UNVEILED BY / THE RIGHT HONOURABLE / NORMAN IRONS / LORD PROVOST OF EDINBURGH / ON 6 DECEMBER 1994
Signatures : None
Design period : Erected Sunday 20/11/1994
Unveiling details : Tuesday 6/12/1994 by Lord Provost of Edinburgh Rt. Hon. Norman Irons
Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0926)
