The Palin Drawings and Photographs Made For the Decoration of the Interior of the McEwan Hall, Edinburgh, 1895

The McEwan Hall is situated in Bristo Square adjacent to the University of Edinburgh's Medical School. It was built by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (1834-1921) between 1888 and 1897 in the Italian Renaissance Style. The D-plan Hall, like a 'magnificent petrified blancmange with a shallow ribbed dome and lantern', was originally planned as part of the University's new Medical School - which was completed some 10 years earlier - but the government at the time refused to fund a graduation hall which they considered frivolous. Instead, the University turned to William McEwan, the brewer, who contributed one-hundred and fifteen thousand pounds to fund the construction of the ostentatious building. The Hall is regularly used for graduations, concerts, meetings and examinations. Palin's painted decoration of the interior of the McEwan Hall is considered opulent. On the dome there are figures of the Arts and Sciences. Over the proscenium arch to the apse there is a huge allegorical scheme on the theme of Temple of fame with enthroned goddesses of Science, Art and Literature. On the right of the arch is Minerva receiving the McEwan Hall, and on the left Fame crowning Success. There are also figures of Perseverance, Intelligence, Imagination and Experience.