Art Funded by you

Portrait Of Alexander Monro Primus

Allan Ramsay, 1750

Courtesy of the University of Edinburgh

Alexander Monro Primus (1697 – 1767) was a distinguished surgeon, scholar and founder of Edinburgh Medical School. He was born in London of Scots parentage and studied in Edinburgh, London, Paris and Leiden. In 1719, he became a lecturer on anatomy at the Surgeons’ Company (now the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh) and was admitted as fellow number 173.

Monro lectured in the old Surgeons’ Hall until 1725, when he was granted a theatre in the university buildings for his teaching. In 1726, he published his Anatomy of the Human Bones, a seminal study, which appeared in eight editions in his lifetime. The reputation of the book, which was translated into most European languages, did much to increase the fame of the new school of medicine in Edinburgh.

This handsome portrait of Monro was painted by Allan Ramsay in the 1750s. Ramsay was a renowned Scottish artist, who studied in London and Rome, and became famous for his royal portraits. The Monro portrait is recorded as having been on loan to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1905, and remained on display there until it was sold by the Monro family in 2006.

The painting now returns to the college as an important record of one of its most celebrated members.

More information

Title of artwork, date

Portrait Of Alexander Monro Primus, 1750

Date supported

2016

Medium and material

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

72 x 62 cm

Grant

18,040

Total cost

53,580

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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