Opened six years after the Victoria building, Waterhouse had toned down his high gothic for a slightly more workmanlike building. However it is decorated with this sculptural panel by C. J. Allen, who had been an apprentice to Brindley & Farmer but by this time was teaching sculpture at the university. The two figures are classicised representations of physiology and pathology, which were to be taught in the new building and are said to be modelled on two professors' wives. As a teacher, Allen was involved in the now famous ‘Art Sheds’, teaching alongside figures such as Robert Anning Bell, Herbert McNair, and for a brief period Augustus John.

Sources:
Pevsner Architectural Guides: Liverpool by Joseph Sharples
liv.ac.uk

Alan Maycock © 2008

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