There are some figures in the sweep of history who contribute more than others in terms of legacy. Dr William Hunter is one. Born three hundred years ago, the seventh child of ten born to John and Agnes Hunter of Long Calderwood, East Kilbride (and one of three to survive adulthood), Hunter entered the University of Glasgow at the age of 14, with the intention of becoming a minister.

He quickly decided it was not for him and when he left in 1736, he became a medical apprentice. When he ended his days in London in 1783, he was a leading figure among Enlightenment Scots in the capital. Hunter had many strings to his bow; anatomist, medical teacher, collector and founding member of the Royal Academy. He became Physician Extraordinary to Queen Charlotte from 1764-1783, having overseen the birth of the future George IV in 1762. He went on to supervise the delivery of her fourteen other children.

Modern medicine owes a huge debt to this enigmatic bachelor, who rarely returned to Scotland once he had established himself in London. The advances he made in medical knowledge, particularly in the lymphatic system and the uterus, put him at the forefront of contemporary medicine. A born educator, leading figures of the day flocked to his public lectures, including the economist Adam Smith as well as author and surgeon Tobias Smollett.

Hunter was an obsessive collector and in 1807, his huge collection of fossils; anatomical specimens and preparations; paintings, drawings and prints; rare books and manuscripts; ethnographical objects; rocks and mineral specimens; coins and medals; shells, corals, beetles, butterflies and examples of taxidermy were bequeathed to his alma mater. The Hunterian collection was then – and is now – the core of Scotland’s oldest public museum.

To mark the tercentenary of Hunter's birth, a major new exhibition reveals the contribution he made to the development of modern museums as we know them today, exploring the synergy between arts and science in the pursuit of knowledge over the course of the eighteenth century.

Featuring more than 400 items, the exhibition moves on to the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University in Connecticut, USA in February.

Just before it opened, with lightbulbs being adjusted and last-minute checks being carried out, Hunterian director, Steph Scholten, took time out to give me a guided tour, selecting five objects which tell the story of a vast collection and a life well lived.

1. Gravid Uterus Cast, drawing and printed book. William Hunter and assistants, The child in the womb in its natural situation c. 1750 Polychrome plaster

This polychrome and plaster cast of the gravid uterus (uterus in pregnancy) represents Hunter’s publication The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus of 1774. Hunter worked on mapping the anatomy of the human gravid uterus for more than 20 years, dissecting thirteen "subjects"; bodies of women who died during various stages of pregnancy. Information was preserved in various media: plaster casts, drawings, and anatomical preparations. This cast, one of four on display, was produced by Hunter and his assistants. Produced directly from dissection, it shows the child in the womb in graphic and naturalistic detail. The drawings, some of which are also on display, were later translated in the thirty-four plates for Hunter’s 1774 publication. Such a work displayed knowledge of the body and its inner workings and transmitted that knowledge to the next generation of medical researchers and practitioners. Hunter's book played a pivotal role in the medicalisation and pathologisation of childbirth in 18th century Britain, a process to which Hunter also contributed through his practice as one of London’s leading man-midwives.

2. Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) A Sketch for the Entombment c.1639– c. 1655 Oil on oak panel

Hunter was willing to spend significant sums on coins and medals but his expenditure on paintings remained modest. His purchase of this Rembrandt for 12 Guineas at Christies in 1771 was a relatively inexpensive acquisition for a work now seen as one of the most important in The Hunterian collection. This oil painting from Rembrandt’s early years in Amsterdam is a personal work which the artist kept in his living room. It shows the burial of Christ taking place deep inside the rock tomb, by torchlight and is listed in the contents of Rembrandt’s house at the time of his bankruptcy in 1656. Research completed in 2012 concluded that the painting was worked on at two points, many years apart. Rather than being a sketch for an etching as was previously thought, it was a treasured example of Rembrandt’s mastery of the unfinished; seen by visitors to the artist’s household.

3. Ferdinand Verbiest, Kunyu Quantu (Map of the Whole World) 1674

Woodblock print on paper laid down cloth, in four parts

The Hunterian copy of this rare map of the world was prepared for the Chinese Emperor Kangxi in 1674 by Jesuit missionary Ferdinand Verbiest. It was part of a larger project to document human and natural phenomena and presents a unique summary of global geographic knowledge at the time. This copy was one of the earliest examples to reach Europe and was part of Hunter’s original collection, purchased along with other Chinese items from the Bayer collection. It is on display in its entirety for the first time as part of the exhibition. The map shows the two hemispheres of the world, each with cartouches containing information on the size, climate, land-forms, customs and history of various parts of the world and details of natural phenomena such as eclipses and earthquakes. Columbus' discovery of America is noted. Images of ships, real and imaginary animals and sea creatures pepper both hemispheres. The map is very rare. In Britain, only the British Library has a copy, which increases the significance of this example.

4. Allan Ramsay (Scottish, 1713–1784) William Hunter c. 1764–65

This is the earliest known portrait of Hunter. When Ramsay painted his long-standing friend they had recently acquired positions at Court. Both were at the height of their careers. The portrait, without the accoutrements of either medicine or collecting, was a private pictorial record of the personal and intellectual relationship enjoyed by the two London-based Scots, who were both influential members of London’s most brilliant Enlightenment salons. When Ramsay painted Hunter’s portrait in the mid-1760s, the two friends were torn between the pursuit of their chosen careers and engagement with other interests. Ramsay had an inclination toward the literary and the antiquarian, while Hunter was determined to create a national school of anatomy supported by a multidisciplinary museum, and to expand his scientific inquiries beyond human anatomy alone.

5. Hunterian Psalter, England, c. 1170 Bound manuscript: 12 x 77/8 in. (30.4 x 20 cm)

Probably the greatest treasure of Hunter’s magnificent library, the pages of Latin text are preceded by 13 full-page Romanesque biblical illustrations. Acquired in 1769 from the French library of Jean- Louis Gaignat (1697–1768), the volume cost Hunter 50 livres and 1 sou. At the time, Hunter was paying three times as much for early printed books. One of a small group of elaborately illuminated twelfth-century English psalters (volume containing the Book of Psalms), it is regarded as the greatest treasure of Hunter’s library. The Latin text is preceded by a sequence of thirteen full-page scenes from both the Old and New Testaments, richly depicted in a style that blends Byzantine modelling and English linear pattern. The pages retain their original brilliance and vivid colours.

William Hunter and the Anatomy of the Modern Museum, Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 82 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, glasgow.ac.uk/hunterian Until January 6, 2019. Open Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm & Sun, 11am-4pm. Free

CRITIC'S CHOICE

The end of the First World War, the so-called War to End All War, is on our collective conscience as a nation this autumn, with countless cultural events taking place from Stornoway to Southampton to mark one hundred years since the Armistice on November 11.

At Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, a major temporary exhibition, Brushes with War; Art from the Front Line, is on show until the new year.

Featuring 219 original paintings and drawings by troops who served in The Great War, Brushes with War; Art from the Front Line portrays most major battles and all aspects of this protracted and bloody conflict. Depicted in oils, watercolours and drawings, the artworks were created by frontline soldiers from various countries from 1914 to 1918.

Most of the work presented in the exhibition is from the private collection of Joel Parkinson, owner and director of the World War History & Art Museum (WWHAM) in Alliance, Ohio, USA, with a further 16 works from Glasgow Museums’ collection.

The artworks illustrate the first-hand experiences and struggles through the eyes of the men who actually fought in combat, were injured in action, taken prisoner and survived aerial dogfights. Independent of official censorship and free from the embellishment of popular propaganda, the works share something of the soldiers’ personal brushes with war, capturing insights, moods and motifs often missed by official photographers and observers of the war.

The exhibition charts the war from 1914 to 1918 with four sub-themes that depict the patriotic optimism in the early stages of war and the rapid escalation to a global conflict. It then shifts to the hardship, monotony and dark humour of daily life in the trenches and the shared experiences of soldiers from different countries, as well as the increasing bitterness and horror at the enormous loss of life. The final sections consider the USA entering the war in 1917 and the events that culminated in Armistice Day on 11 November 1918.

Brushes with War; Art from the Front Line, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8AG, 0141 276 9599, glasgowlife.org.uk/museums Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm, Sun, 11am-5pm. Adult £7/£5 conc, under 16s free.

DON'T MISS

If, like me, you always end up kicking yourself that a major exhibition has come and gone and you missed it, then consider this your "note-to-self". Britain’s love affair with Dutch master, Rembrandt, is the subject of a knockout exhibition which runs at the Royal Scottish Academy on Princes Street until next weekend. It tells the story of how Rembrandt’s work in Britain has bewitched and inspired collectors (including William Hunter), artists and writers over four centuries. This exhibition, which is only being shown in Edinburgh, brings together key works by Rembrandt which remain in British collections, as well as treasures which left the country. Some of the exhibits have never been on public display before, while others return to Britain for the first time in decades, some after even a century or more.

Rembrandt: Britain's Discovery of the Master, Royal Scottish Academy, Princes St, Edinburgh EH2 2EL, 0131 624 6200 |nationalgalleries.org Until October 14. Tickets, £15-£10 (concessions available)