Lunch Time Talk: Charles Bell and his Anatomical Models

Name: Lunch Time Talk: Charles Bell and his Anatomical Models
Start: 2025-02-26T13:15:00+00:00
End: 2025-02-26T13:45:00+00:00
Location: Surgeons Hall Museum,Nicolson Street,Edinburgh,EH8 9DW,GB

Schedule

Wed Feb 26 2025 at 01:15 pm to 01:45 pm

UTC+00:00

Location

Surgeons Hall Museum,Nicolson Street,Edinburgh,EH8 9DW,GB | Edinburgh, SC

Human Remains Conservator Cat Irving will discuss Surgeon Charles Bell and why he was known as "the Apollo Belvedere of morbid anatomy"

Join us for this bite sized lunch time talk exploring the history of medicine.
Surgeons’ Hall holds a collection of models made by Scottish Surgeon Charles Bell in the early nineteenth century, and this talk by human remains conservator Cat Irving will explore what we know about Bell’s techniques, and what these tell us about surgery at that time.
In a letter to Francis Jeffrey, the writer Sydney Smith talks about his experience of seeing a model made by Bell: “I could not have conceived that anything could be so perfect and beautiful as his wax models. I saw one to-day which was quite the Apollo Belvedere of Morbid Anatomy.” Bell did not intend these as a work of art – for him, this was a teaching resource, but an artistic streak would inform much of Bell’s work.
Talks will last approximately 30 mins and there will be tea and coffee available for ticket holders.
Age Guidance: 16+
Important Refund Information: Please note that included in your ticket prices is a 96p booking charge which is non-refundable. This is part of Eventbrite terms and conditions and is not at the discression of Surgeons Hall Museums.
Content Warning: Our collections contain human remains as well as representations of anatomy, injury, and disease that some may find upsetting .