3-017-034 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Statue of John Hunter, by H. Weekes, R.A., in the Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1864. 'John Hunter...is, by common consent of his successors, esteemed the greatest man that ever practised surgery amongst us...by indefatigable industry and by concentrating upon his subsequent studies a mind that was at once eminently practical and philosophical, he mastered all that was then learnt of physiology, comparative anatomy, and the allied sciences...His wonderful museum, the nucleus of the grand collection of the Royal College of Surgeons, in Lincoln's- inn-fields, was sold at his death to Government for £15,000, in order to pay the debts which he had incurred by its formation...a public subscription...[of] a thousand guineas, [was raised] for a monument to his memory... and the result is the very fine statue...[by Mr. Henry Weekes, R.A. which] is now at the Royal Academy; but will be placed...in the Museum of the College of Surgeons. The sculptor's authority for the likeness was the well- known portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds...The statue is somewhat above life-size...A scroll of paper at the feet, with the outlines of several skulls engraved upon it...serve to indicate the direction of [Hunter's] thoughts and the nature of his researches'. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.