Medical School Coat of Arms

Aesculapius bearing the University of Birmingham Coat of Arms

  • Artist: William Bloye (1890-1975)
  • Medium: Portland stone
  • Research and Cultural Collections
  • Accession number: BIRRC-A0555 
  • Location: Medical School. To find this sculpture, you can either use its what three words location or use the campus digital map.

The University of Birmingham has one of the United Kingdom’s oldest medical faculties, dating back to 1825. The Medical School opened on campus in 1938 to consolidate earlier teaching hospitals scattered throughout the city. William Bloye was commissioned to create a sculpted panel to sit above the main entrance to the building. The sculpture features the Roman God of Medicine, Aesculapius, bearing a staff and serpent which is the emblem of medicine. In front of Aesculapius is the University of Birmingham’s crest featuring the mermaid and the double-headed lion, with Faculty of Medicine inscribed beneath.

Carved stone shield featuring a male figure and a serpent on the front of the Medical School by William Bloye
Close up of carved stone shield featuring a male figure and a serpent on the front of the Medical School by William Bloye
Carved stone shield featuring a male figure and a serpent by William Bloye in context of the Medical School Building
Carved stone shield featuring a male figure and a serpent by William Bloye in context of the Medical School Building

 

Visual description

This sculpture is an embossed, sculpted panel which sits high above the entrance to the building near the very top of the building. It is pale-grey stone coloured in appearance. It features the torso of male figure at the centre with cropped hair and a sculpted beard, facing the right so its head is viewed in profile. Its arms are outstetched to either side, arms bent at the elbow and in the left hand it is holding a staff which is wrapped with the body of a scaled serpent. The serpent’s head reemerges on the right side and appears to be eating out of a bowl in the figure’s right hand. A stone carved shield is in the foreground and obscures the male figure’s chest area. It features a double-headed lion on the left, a mermaid holding a mirror on the right and an open book at the bottom inscribed with the words ‘per ardua ad alta’. Underneath the shield there are words inscribed which read ‘Faculty of Medicine’. They are partially obscured by the shield. In the background the stone is carved to represent what looks like flowing material or water. This scene sits on a slightly wider geometiric base which sticks out at the centre points on the right and left.