Epstein's Medical Sculptures
the statues too rude for edwardian london
Eighteen carved figures on Zimbabwe House on the Strand that scandalised Edwardian London and were later defaced.
Free to visit · Strand · Charing Cross · WC2N 5BD
Opening: Exterior viewable any time
In 1908 the young sculptor Jacob Epstein carved eighteen large nude figures for the facade of what was then the British Medical Association building on the Strand, representing the stages of human life. Their frank nudity caused an enormous scandal, with newspapers and moralists demanding their removal from public view.
The figures survived the outcry, but in the 1930s, when the building passed to another government, the projecting parts were hacked off, officially for safety, leaving them mutilated. The battered figures still stand, free to see from the street, a striking monument both to Epstein's early genius and to London's long history of fussing over public decency.
Getting there: On Zimbabwe House on the Strand, a couple of minutes from Charing Cross.
Best time to go: Daytime, looking up at the first-floor figures from across the Strand.
Insider tip: Look up to the first-floor level across the street to take in all the figures along the facade. You can still see where the sculptures were deliberately cut back, the result of the moral panic they caused.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide