Smugglerius, ca. 1834

William Pink (1809 - 1857)

RA Collection: Art

On free display in The Julia and Hans Rausing Hall

Dr William Hunter, first Professor of Anatomy at the Royal Academy Schools, often performed dissections for the students, but as an alternative to this time-consuming and complicated practise he also expanded the teaching collection of anatomical casts. In 1776 he commissioned the sculptor Carlini to cast the corpse of a muscular smuggler fresh from the gallows. In order to invest the gruesome business with a sense of high art, the flayed figure was posed as the Roman statue the 'Dying Gaul' and given the pseudo-classical title 'Smugglerius'.