The Viva
Object numberRCSSC/P 204
CollectionSpecial collections
CategoryVisual works
Object nameOil paintings, Group portraits, genre scenes - medical education
TitleThe Viva
DescriptionExaminers conducting a viva at the College, by Henry Jamyn Brooks, signed, 1894.
The painting is set in the old Council Room of the College, and depicts a fictional examination scene incorporating portraits of several senior members of the Court of Examiners from the late 19th century. Three viva voce interviews are taking place in the room: in each, a young candidate sits at a table covered in anatomical and pathological specimens, and is being quizzed by a pair of examiners. In the background on the left of the painting the examiners are Edward Lund (1823-1898) and Sir William MacCormac (1825-1901): Lund is writing notes while MacCormac sits with his left hand on his ear as the candidate studies the pot in front of him. In the centre and foregound of the painting a second candidate is being examined by John Wood (1825-1891) and Sir Jonathan Hutchinson (1828-1913). The candidate - a young man with short dark hair and a dark moustache - is holding a specimen up to the light and regarding it quizzically. Wood, seated behind the table and positioned in the centre of the scene, is leaning forward with his head resting on his right hand and his elbow on the table: he is staring at the candidate intently, but his face and his posture convey a sense of weariness and exasperation. To Wood's left (and the viewer's right) Hutchinson is sitting back and regarding the candidate more dispassionately. Behind Wood and Hutchinson, in the backround on the right of the painting, John Marshall (1818-1891) and Frederick Le Gros Clark (1811-1892) are examing a third candidate. On the wall of the room behind this scene is a central fireplace, above which the lower part of the portrait of John Hunter is visible. To the left, part of the portrait of Anthony Carlisle can be seen, while to the right the lower portion of the portrait of Astley Cooper is visible.
Although all of the figures depicted were examiners they never examined together: instead, the painting appears to have been commissioned by Hutchinson to record himself and several of his contemporaries. Brooks had painted a group portrait of the College Council three years previously (see related records), which also featured Hutchinson.
Production date 1894
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presented
Related objectsRCSSC/P 201
Physical Location
Location
Not on public display: contact museum for access conditions
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 77cm by 141cm. In gilt wooden fram unglazed, 111.5cm by 175cm.
H Jamyn Brooks 1894B.1836. WILLIAM MACCORMAC D.1901. / B.1825 JOHN WOOD. D.1891 / B.1828 JONATHAN HUTCHINSON D.1913 / B.1811 LEGROS CLARK D.1892. / B.1823 EDWARD LUND D.1898. / B.1818. JOHN MARSHALL D.1891.
Bibliography
NotesArticle which refers to this painting