Bryophyte sculptures unveiled

12th December 2012

Trinity College Dublin recently celebrated a significant anniversary: the first Professor of Botany, Dr Henry Nicholson, delivered his inaugural lecture on 16th August 1711. Special events associated with this tercentenary included a series of special lectures and the creation of a new Physic Garden. In addition, two botanical sculptures were commissioned by the Department of Botany.

On 12th November 2012, the two sculptures were unveiled. These are relief works in stoneware, by Dublin sculptor Ms Niamh Synnott. One represents the moss Funaria hygrometrica (Bonfire moss), the other the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha.


Ms Niamh Synnott (sculptor, on left) & Dr Daniel Kelly with Funaria hygrometrica

Funaria hygrometrica by Ms Niamh Synnott

Funaria hygrometrica (detail)

Both of these are common species, to be found in most parts of the world – and both are to be found, literally, within a stone’s throw of our building. Bryophytes have been described as the Lilliputians of the plant world and to appreciate them one must, like Gulliver, get down on one’s hands and knees. One can look at them magnified by lens or microscope – or by the skill of an artist. Ms Synnott has captured the elegant swan-neck seta that bears the pear-shaped capsule of Funaria, reflecting its pattern in sinuous curves and spirals. Her liverwort bursts exuberantly out of its two-dimensional frame; it bears echoes of the plasterwork that embellishes the walls and ceilings of Georgian mansions. At the same time, the artist has overcome the technical difficulties of depicting the almost uniquely complex and bizarre reproductive structures of the plant.

Marchantia polymorpha by Ms Niamh Synnott

Marchantia polymorpha (detail)

Ms Niamh Synnott & Dr Daniel Kelly with Marchantia polymorpha

Incidentally, it cannot be entirely a coincidence that Niamh’s father is none other than Donal Synnott, retired Director of the National Botanic Gardens and a leading Irish bryologist (for many years effectively the only Irish bryologist!).

The sculptures hang on the walls of the TCD Botany Department, and may be viewed any time during office hours.