18th century School of Surgery - Saintes
Nikon D800, 16.0-35.0 mm f/4.0

The school was the initiative of Dr. Jacques-Louis Doussin , a former student of the famous surgeon Francois de la Peyronnie, first-surgeon to King Louis XV. It was inaugurated in 1777 and financed by Étienne Guinot, Lord of Tesson and Marquis of Monconseil a nobleman of the 'Ancien Regime'.  The arrangement was for expert surgeons to instruct young men, generally barbers, in this aspect of medicine.  The quadrangular building housed an amphitheatre of anatomy and surgery and a dissection room, there was also a cellar to store the corpses ceded by the town's hospital.  The surgeons also agreed to attend the school on Mondays to provide free treatment to the poor. Unfortunately the School of surgery did not survive the French Revolution the premises being requisitioned by the local Committee of Public Safety. Note the effacing of the coats of arms on the fascure
surgery school