'Exquisite Pain' by Damien Hirst

'Exquisite Pain'.

"I like the confusion you get between science and religion...

that's where belief lies and art as well."

- Damien Hirst

Inside the Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great, in the south transept, you will find an anatomically correct statue of St Bartholomew. The statue has his skin draped over his right arm, with his right hand holding a scalpel. His left hand holds a pair of scissors.

It is a striking piece, eerily gleaming against the darkness of the interior of the church, which, when first seen, is very unsettling. However, the more I studied it the more captivated I became.

Church of St Bartholomew-the-Less

The entrance to the church of St Bartholomew-the-Less.

Having recently visited the Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great I thought that I should make a visit to the smaller church, set within the grounds of St Bartholomew's Hospital, St Bartholomew-the-Less.

As I expected from the name this church is definitely smaller, but it still has a long and fascinating history.

Definitely the Lesser of the two churches to St Bartholomew.

Considering the darkness that seems to have taken a hold of the interior of St Bartholomew-the Great, it was nice to enter a bright church, which seemed, at least to me, to be much more modern.

However, as it turns out, the Less is only a few years younger than the Great, having been established in around 1184.

I was thankful that it was still early in the day, so that I had the chance to explore the church without interruption. 

Inside the church of St Bartholomew-the-Less.

After a good look around and after taking plenty of photographs I made my way out into the hospital grounds. Well, since I was there and I do work in a hospital myself it only seemed the right thing to do.