About this artwork
The seventh son of a West Lothian baker, Simpson rose to the peak of the medical profession. He became Professor of Midwifery at the age of twenty-eight and was acclaimed worldwide for his advances in obstetrics and gynaecology. Most importantly, he introduced chloroform as an anaesthetic in childbirth and surgery. The Church argued vigorously against its use, saying that pain during labour was pre-ordained but, after Queen Victoria experienced its benefits during the birth of her eighth child in 1853, it came into general use. This marble bust was commissioned by Simpson's son, who asked the sculptor to copy an original plaster by Patric Park
Updated before 2020
-
artist:John Stevenson Rhind (1859 - 1937) Scottish
-
title:Sir James Young Simpson, 1811 - 1870. Discoverer of chloroform
-
date created:About 1889
-
after:Patric Park (1811 - 1855) Scottish
-
materials:Marble
-
measurements:79.50 cm (height)
-
object type:
-
credit line:Presented by Sir W.G. Simpson 1889
-
accession number:PG 426
-
gallery:
-
depicted:
-
subject:
John Stevenson Rhind
John Stevenson Rhind
The sculptor John Stevenson Rhind was active in Edinburgh from the late 1870s. He made a living from funerary monuments and portrait busts. Rhind exhibited regularly at the Royal Scottish Academy. His bronze statue of Queen Victoria (1907) is at the foot of Leith Walk and his Edward VII in...