Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
12
City Art Centre
ART CENTRE
The largest and most populist of Edinburgh's smaller galleries, the CAC is home to the
city's collection of Scottish art, ranging from the 17th century to the 20th (including
works by the Scottish Colourists), as well as many fine paintings, engravings and photo-
graphs showing views of Edinburgh at various stages of its history.
(
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
; 2 Market St; fee for temporary exhibitions;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat,
noon-5pm Sun;
36)
Understand
The Resurrection Men
Edinburgh has long had a reputation for being at the cutting edge of medical research. In the
early 19th century this led to a shortage of cadavers with which the city's anatomists could satis-
fy their curiosity, and an illegal trade in dead bodies emerged.
The readiest supply of corpses was to be found in the city's graveyards. Grave robbers -
known as 'resurrection men' - plundered newly buried coffins and sold the cadavers to the ana-
tomists, who turned a blind eye to the source of their research material.
William Burke and William Hare took the bodysnatching business a step further, deciding to
create their own supply of fresh cadavers by resorting to murder. Between December 1827 and
October 1828 they killed at least 16 people, selling their bodies to the surgeon Robert Knox.
When the law finally caught up with them Hare testified against Burke, who was hanged out-
side St Giles Cathedral in January 1829. In an ironic twist, his body was given to the anatomy
school for public dissection.
