SCULPTURE IN THE
CENTRAL COURT
Full-length statues and portrait busts
Around the edges of the Museum's central court, facing the collections, are nineteen full-length portrait statues and ten portrait busts.
Originally, statues on the exterior of the building were discussed, but by 1855 it was agreed that a scheme of statues representing famous figures in the history of Western science should be installed in the central court.
The earliest statues were on display by the time the Museum opened in 1860. Amongst those were examples by sculptors associated with the Pre-Raphaelites: Thomas Woolner (1825-92), Alexander Munro (1825-71) and John Tupper (c.1824-79).
The statues were funded by donations and the scheme was added to for the next sixty years. The final full-length statue to be placed in the central court, by the sculptor Henry Hope Pinker (1850-1927), was installed in 1914.
Alongside these full-length statues, portrait busts were commissioned to commemorate individuals associated with science at Oxford during the nineteenth century.
The sculptural scheme includes works by eleven different sculptors across six decades.
Full-Length Statues
The request, published in May 1855, for funds towards the Museum's decoration suggested donations of £70 to fund a statue that would be part of a scheme depicting the 'Founders and Improvers of Natural Knowledge'.
It was hoped that these statues would inspire those working and studying in the Museum.
The Museum's governing body curated a list of suggested scientists from which donors could choose.
‘for the contemplation and example of all who may hereafter enter, with various purpose, this place of study and work’
Public Subscription Request, May 1855, OUMNH archives
Public Subscription Request, May 1855, OUMNH archives
The fundraising campaign was kickstarted by Queen Victoria funding five of the statues. Members of the public soon followed suit with individual donors and collective groups donating money towards statues.
Some donors chose subjects from the published list of scientists, whilst others requested scientists that the Museum's governing body had not originally suggested.
This meant that the scheme ultimately incorporated not only the aims of those leading the project but the wishes of the donors paying for the decoration.
After the Museum opened in 1860, the initial funding campaign stalled. Further statues were added in a piecemeal fashion. Henry Acland was determined to continue the scheme and was behind the addition of three statues of figures associated with his discipline of Medicine and, in 1914, the final full-length statue of Roger Bacon was installed to celebrate the seventh centenary of his birth and to commemorate the medieval roots of science at Oxford.
Portrait busts
The sculptural scheme in the central court was not intended to include portrait busts, yet they soon began to be displayed. The early examples were often copies of portrait busts commissioned for other venues but increasingly busts were commissioned specifically for display in the Museum.
The busts all had memorial functions and the majority were commissioned and funded by friends and colleagues of the individuals, as recognition of their contribution to science at Oxford and the life of the Museum.
Unlike the statues, the busts are nearly all marble, which meant that they would have been more expensive than the full-length statues.
The earliest, that of William Buckland, was installed by the 1870s and, by the early 20th century, nine more busts had been added, many of which celebrated the first generation of museum staff.
Layout of the sculpture
The sculpture was grouped in the central court according to scientific discipline.
Originally, the different science departments teaching in the Museum all had departmental facilities opening onto the central court. The statues and busts were placed next to the department most relevant to the work of the scientist depicted. Many of the full-length statues incorporate emblems that clearly refer to aspects of the scientist's life and works.
Click on the plan below to find out more about the individual sculptures that surround the four sides of the central court.
The future of the sculptural scheme
The existing, historic display of sculpture in the central court does not reflect the diverse contributions that men and women globally have made to studies of the natural world.
In the future, it is hoped that new additions to the scientists depicted in the sculptural scheme will enable the portrayal of a broader history of science.
Built with Shorthand