Page 207 - Bulletin 8 2004

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Its façade and roofline are decorated with a variety of sculptures that were the work of
Ernest Quilter and Wynne Quail. (Figs. 4.50 & 4.51). Ernest Quilter was responsible for the

statue of Hygeia and the two Zimbabwe Birds. When physicians swear the Hippocratic
Oath they do so by the gods Apollo and Asclepius, and by Asclepius’ two daughters

Panacea and Hygeia. Quilter’s statue of Hygeia was placed atop the central pediment high

above the main entrance.

The two Zimbabwe Birds, replicas of stone carvings brought by Rhodes from Rhodesia to
the Cape, were positioned on top of the towers housing the hospital’s lift shafts. The birds

face towards each other as if “talking” to each other across the rooftop. The original
Zimbabwe Birds were found in the Great Zimbabwe Ruins and Rhodes liked to think that,

because of their resemblance to the Egyptian and Phoenician Hawk, they were evidence of

a connection between Central African and ancient Egyptian civilizations. According to
Herbert Baker, Rhodes placed one of his Birds in the Cabinet-room of the old Cape

Parliament “to remind ministers that many centuries looked down on their deliberations”.

Wynne’s contributions were the sculptures in the pediments at the ends of the projecting

main wings, the men’s and women’s wings (Figs. 4.52 & 4.53), mouldings at various
places on the facade (Fig. 4.54), and two 3ft. high keystones carrying cherubs depicting

youth and vitality in the window arches of the children’s wards (Figs. 4.55 & 4.56). This
work was also carried out at Salt River Cement Works. As on the Santam Building, the

artwork here is so far above the ground that its details are difficult to appreciate. Later

additions to the hospital in the 1960s and 1980s have severely disfigured the building’s
symmetrical plan, as well as its appearance and presence in its fine setting, and also

completely obscured the north pediment.

There was also artwork within the building. On the walls of the broad passageway on the
ground floor, and in the children’s wards and playrooms, there were ceramic tiles produced

at the Ceramic Studio at Olifantsfontein in the Transvaal. These have since been removed