Nimbus: Pennsylvania Hospital

A historic operating theater was the inspiration for Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde to create a cloud representing health, medical research, and the American Dream.

The nation’s first surgical theater opened at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia in 1804, ushering in the latest in science and medical research. Founded in part by Benjamin Franklin, who served on hospital’s board, this operating room helped introduce clinical teaching by bringing the patient into the lecture space with students. Before gas or electric lighting, the surgical theater relied on an oculus, a skylight in the center of its soaring rotunda. Surgeries took place between 11 am and 2 pm when the theater was illuminated by sunlight.