Examination candidates in the Aula Maxima, 1909
Item
Title
Examination candidates in the Aula Maxima, 1909
Identifier
VHG0012
Depiction
Ten students, dressed in gowns, sitting at their examination desks in two rows in the Aula Maxima, with apparently two ‘Examination Supervisors’ in the background
Description
A picture of examination candidates in the Aula Maxima in 1909 is shown here, which includes partial images of three other candidates. Two persons in the backgound may be examination supervisors, one of whom looks like a priest – possibly Revd T.R. Mac Alinney, the Catholic Dean of Residence at the time. Two Roman style sculptures mounted on pedestals between Aula Maxima arches can also be seen.
Two marble Greek sculptures mounted on pedestals between Aula Maxima arches can also be seen. The one on the left is the Discobolus (‘discus thrower’) by Myron and is a cast of the 2nd century AD Roman marble copy of the bronze Greek original completed at around 460-450 BC – which was lost. The sculpture depicts a youthful male athlete about to release his throw of the discus. The sculpture is probably a cast of the so-called Townley Discobulus (Wikipedia /Discobolus, Sept. 2023), discovered at Hadrians’ Villas in 1791, restored (incorrectly retored with head in an incorrect orientation) and purchased by Charles Townley for £400, and bought by the British Museum in 1805 (www.britishmuseum). There is no information on the second marble sculpture, which appears to show an athlete holding rings in both hands.Extracts from minutes of the College Council in 1855 (Minutes of the College Council) reports on invoice of casts presented to the College, with a reference to the casts being located in the Museum rather than in the Aula Maxima at that time.
This picture, which is held in the University of Galway Library’s archive, appeared in a postcard which was for sale in the Student’s Union Shop.
Two marble Greek sculptures mounted on pedestals between Aula Maxima arches can also be seen. The one on the left is the Discobolus (‘discus thrower’) by Myron and is a cast of the 2nd century AD Roman marble copy of the bronze Greek original completed at around 460-450 BC – which was lost. The sculpture depicts a youthful male athlete about to release his throw of the discus. The sculpture is probably a cast of the so-called Townley Discobulus (Wikipedia /Discobolus, Sept. 2023), discovered at Hadrians’ Villas in 1791, restored (incorrectly retored with head in an incorrect orientation) and purchased by Charles Townley for £400, and bought by the British Museum in 1805 (www.britishmuseum). There is no information on the second marble sculpture, which appears to show an athlete holding rings in both hands.Extracts from minutes of the College Council in 1855 (Minutes of the College Council) reports on invoice of casts presented to the College, with a reference to the casts being located in the Museum rather than in the Aula Maxima at that time.
This picture, which is held in the University of Galway Library’s archive, appeared in a postcard which was for sale in the Student’s Union Shop.
References
Extracts from Minutes of the College Council, 21/6/1855; 23/6/1855; 19/12/1855; 22/12/1855.
Wikipedia contributors, ‘Examination candidates in the Aula Maxima_1909’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discobolus, accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
https://www.britishmuseum.org.
Personal communication: Patsy Clancy
Wikipedia contributors, ‘Examination candidates in the Aula Maxima_1909’, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discobolus, accessed 27 Sept. 2023.
https://www.britishmuseum.org.
Personal communication: Patsy Clancy
Contributor
Bibliographic Citation
Patsy Clancy, Séamus Mac Mathúna, S.G. Jennings, ‘Examination candidates in the Aula Maxima_1909’, Visual History Retired Staff Collection, University of Galway Digital Collections, Asset Id 14143, Archival Record Id VHRS
Spatial Coverage
Temporal Coverage
Period
1900s
Category
b&w
group
on-campus
indoors
Keywords
Examination
Language
English
Publisher
University of Galway Library
Rights
This image may be used for non-commercial purposes under CC BY-NC-SA
see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/