Memorial to Theodore de Mayerne

Memorial to Theodore de Mayerne

c.1655

stone

This is a memorial to Theodore de Mayerne (1573 – 1655) consisting of a large stone and marble pedestal with an engraved tablet on the front (in latin) on which rests a sculpture of de Mayerne, from the waist up, with hands clasped. Mayerne was born into a Huguenot family in Geneva and studied medicine. He practiced as a physician in France before moving to England. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was Knighted. This memorial used to be in the former St Martin-in-the-Fields church (c.1544-1721) and it is now located in the present church's Crypt Gallery.

Dr. Sir Theodore de Mayerne: Celebrity Physician (1573-1655) Theodore de Mayerne is one of several famous medical names associated with St. Martin in the Fields, as he was buried here after his death in 1655. He was born in Geneva and was a Huguenot (a French Protestant). He studied in Geneva, Heidelberg, and Montpellier, receiving his doctorate in 1597. De Mayerne taught in Paris and had prestigious clients, including Cardinal Richelieu, Anne of Denmark, and King Henry IV of France. He was introduced to English and Scottish royalty on his travels and was a known connoisseur of the fine art of the era. An aficionado of Albrecht Dürer, de Mayerne would later appreciate that his portrait was painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1631. De Mayerne moved to London in 1611, becoming the court physician to James I and stayed in that into the reign of Charles I. Clearly a man of merit, his association with royalty was not enough to keep Oliver Cromwell from being his patient, before resuming royal service for Charles II after his restoration, but retired soon after. A visionary in many ways, he proposed a central health system centuries before the NHS and promoted a national pharmacopeia (a list of authorised medicines). He was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and knighted. He was buried in St Martins along with his family. His devoted godson Sir Theodore des Vaux, himself a doctor of note, paid for the elaborate memorial to him and his family that now resides in our gallery.

SMITF.H.97