T.L. Morrisey

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Mural by Mary Harris Filer, at the Montreal Neurological Institute, 2

Here are some details of Mary Harris Filer's mural at The Neuro.


The co-founder of The Neuro, Wilder Penfield, in brown suit and arm extended;
note the extensive coverings worn by surgeons to avoid infections in patients


The patient is modelled after the artist, Mary Harris Filer


                                    Both patient and nurse are images by Filer of herself


In the operating room
                                                                                 
                              Anguish and suffering depicted in Filer’s mural


Visual depiction of mental illness as a kind of demonic possession
this might refer to epilepsy (a major concern of Drs. Penfield and Cone);
epilepsy was considered a mental, moral, or spiritual illness
until the Twentieth Century

 



Dr. William Vernon Cone (1897–1959) was a pioneering American-Canadian neurosurgeon
who co-founded the Montreal Neurological Institute (The Neuro) 
with Wilder Penfield in 1934



Politicians who helped provide funding for The Neuro,
in centre is Maurice Duplessis, premier of Quebec, 
and to the right is Mayor Camilien Houde of Montreal;
they are shown above the image of the Royal Victoria Hospital

No comments: