Spotlight: Victorian Exercise

Spotlight: Victorian Exercise runs at the Physicians' Gallery on Wednesday 25 November, from 12.30pm to 12.50pm. It's a short, twenty-minute session, so it's an easy one to slot into a lunch break if you're working in the city.

The talk is part of the gallery's Spotlight series, which is a monthly curator-led session held on the last Wednesday of every month at 12.30pm. Each one takes a specific theme and looks at it through the objects on display in the gallery, so you'll be seeing the history of exercise told through the actual things the gallery holds rather than just hearing about it. This month's focus is Victorian physical culture, and it draws a contrast between two very different sides of the era's obsession with the body.

On one hand, there was the world of the strongman: bodybuilders and showmen like Eugen Sandow toured music halls across Europe, putting on displays of strength for paying crowds. At the same time, Victorians were taking up gymnastics, and huge open-air public gymnasiums were being set up in cities across the country, including Edinburgh. The talk looks at those two trends side by side — the theatrical, individualist side of the music hall and the more organised, public side of the gymnasiums.

It's held in the Physicians' Gallery at The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 11 Queen Street, EH2 1JQ. Entry is free, but you do need to book your place. There's step-free access and seating available, and it runs from 12.30pm to 12.50pm.