The University, South Bridge Street, Edinburgh

Category

Library Item

Item no

18710

Title

The University, South Bridge Street, Edinburgh

Description

Old College on South Bridge is a grand building with Roman doric columns surrounding the grand entrance. Down the street further buildings can be seen and the spire of a church is visible. The street is busy with pedestrians, horses and carts.

Artist / maker

Shepherd, Thomas Hosmer

Engraver

Lizars, W H

Date

1829

Size

10.1 x 14.9 cm

Type

Engraving

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

This image comes from 'Modern Athens', a book of engravings based on drawings by Thomas Shepherd published in 1829. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries Edinburgh was growing rapidly. The popular neoclassical architectural style of the time was inspired by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and Edinburgh was nicknamed 'Athens of the North'. Shepherd's engravings celebrate the beauty of Edinburgh and show many notable buildings and streets both within the city, and further afield.

The construction of Old College, according to Robert Adam's designs, began in 1789. Adams' death and the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars led to the project being halted in 1792. It was recommenced in 1817 by William Playfair, and work was largely completed by the mid 1830's. It was not until 1887 that the final finishing touch, a large dome similar to that in Adam's original design, was put on the building by Robert Rowand Anderson. This dome was topped with a bronze statue the following year. The building is still used by the University of Edinburgh.

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