Scottish National Portrait Gallery

2024-09-24T07:06:01Z

86.170.220.41:

{{Short description|Art museum in Edinburgh, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{infobox museum
|name =National Galleries Scotland: Portrait
| former_name = Scottish National Portrait Gallery
|image = Exterior of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption = Queen Street façade
|logo=File:National_Galleries_Scotland_Portrait_logo.png
|map_type = Scotland Edinburgh Central
|coordinates = {{coord|55|57|19.5|N|3|11|36.9|W|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|established = {{Start date and age|1889|df=yes}}
|location = 1 Queen Street<br>[[Edinburgh]] EH2 1JD<br>Scotland
|visitors = 372,743 (2019)<ref name="ALVA 2019 visitor numbers">{{cite web |title=ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=alva.org.uk |access-date=27 October 2020}}</ref>
|publictransit = {{rint|edinburgh}} {{tram|York Place}}
|website = {{URL|https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery|nationalgalleries.org}}
}}

'''National Galleries Scotland: Portrait''' is an [[art museum]] on [[Queen Street, Edinburgh|Queen Street]], [[Edinburgh]]. Portrait holds the national collections of [[portrait]]s, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the '''Scottish National Photography Collection'''.

Since 1889 it has been housed in its red [[sandstone]] [[Gothic revival]] building, designed by [[Robert Rowand Anderson]] and built between 1885 and 1890 to accommodate the gallery and the museum collection of the [[Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]]. The building was donated by [[John Ritchie Findlay]], owner of ''[[The Scotsman]]'' newspaper. In 1985 the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland was amalgamated with the Royal Scottish Museum, and later moved to Chambers Street as part of the [[National Museum of Scotland]]. The Scottish National Portrait Gallery expanded to take over the whole building, and reopened on 1 December 2011 as “Portrait” after being closed since April 2009 for the first comprehensive refurbishment in its history, carried out by [[Page\Park Architects]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgalleries.org/aboutus/special-projects/portrait-of-the-nation//|title=About Us − National Galleries of Scotland|first=National Galleries of|last=Scotland|work=NationalGalleries.org|access-date=28 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="Antiquities history">{{cite web|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/7087e8d9-196b-3be7-9449-735e5d9f911f|title=National Museums Scotland Archive|publisher=Archives Hub|access-date=25 June 2018}}</ref>

Portrait is part of [[National Galleries Scotland]], a public body that also owns the [[Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art]] and the [[Scottish National Gallery]] in Edinburgh.

==History==
The [[Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]] was founded in 1780 by [[David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan]]. Its members donated items of interest, and in 1781 it bought a place to properly store this material, the Antiquarian Society Hall, located between the [[Cowgate]] and [[Parliament Square, Edinburgh|Parliament Close]], just to the west of Old Fishmarket Close, as shown on [[Alexander Kincaid]]'s ''Plan of the City''.<ref name="Antiquaries history">{{cite web | title=Our History | website=Society of Antiquaries of Scotland | url=https://www.socantscot.org/about-us/our-history/ | access-date=3 May 2021}}</ref><ref>[https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=17&lat=55.94892&lon=-3.18982&layers=125&right=BingHyb Side-by-side view], Kincaid 1774 and Bing hybrid, National Library of Scotland.</ref> It moved several times, from 1826 it rented space in the [[Royal Scottish Academy building|Royal Institution]] at the foot of [[The Mound]], owned by the [[Board of Manufactures]]. By 1851 its collections were in 24 [[George Street, Edinburgh|George Street]], in November it agreed with the Board to make the collections National Property, with the government to provide continuing accommodation for the collections and for the Society's meetings. As part of the agreement, the collections moved back to the Royal Institution in 1858.<ref name="Antiquaries history" />

Erskine had also formed a collection of Scottish portraits in the late 18th century, many are now in the museum. When the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]], was established in 1856 and became very successful, the Scottish historian [[Thomas Carlyle]] was among those calling for a Scottish equivalent, but the government was reluctant to commit to funding the project.<ref name="Press hist">Press, "Facts and Statistics" and "The History of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery"; [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/302-history-and-architecture History & Architecture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531064947/http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/302-history-and-architecture |date=31 May 2012 }}, NGS</ref>

In 1882 [[John Ritchie Findlay]] endowed a new building on Queen Street, costing £50,000, designed by [[Robert Rowand Anderson]] to accommodate both the antiquities collections and the portraits. It was completed in 1890. At the centre of the facade of the symmetrical building, a large Main Hall formed a shared entrance to the two institutions.<ref name="Antiquaries history" /><ref name="Press hist" /> Portrait occupied the east wing of the building, and the Museum of Antiquities took up the west wing.<ref name="US Museum1905">{{cite book|author=Smithsonian Institution|authorlink=Smithsonian Institution|title=Report Upon the Condition and Progress of the United States National Museum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wb1uwaLZ3_wC&pg=PA560|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=560}}</ref>

The portrait gallery was established in 1882, before its new building was completed. The London National Portrait Gallery was the first such separate museum in the world, however it did not move into its current purpose-built building until 1896, making the Edinburgh gallery the first in the world to be specially built as a portrait gallery.<ref name="auto">Press, "The History of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery"; [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/302-history-and-architecture History & Architecture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531064947/http://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/302-history-and-architecture |date=31 May 2012 }}, NGS</ref> Special national portrait galleries remain a distinct Anglophone speciality, with the other more recent examples in [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|Washington DC]] (1968), [[National Portrait Gallery (Australia)|Canberra, Australia]] (1998), and [[Portrait Gallery of Canada|Ottawa, Canada]] (2001) not so far copied in other countries. The famous collection of portraits housed in the [[Vasari Corridor]] in [[Florence]] remains only accessible to the public on a limited basis.

The building was opened in 1889 under curator [[John Miller Gray]]. Over the years new facilities such as a shop and café were added in a piecemeal fashion, and the galleries rearranged and remodelled, generally reducing the clarity of the layout of the building, and often the ceiling height, as well as blocking off many windows. The building was shared with the National Museum of Antiquities, which latterly became the [[Museum of Scotland]] and moved to a new building in 2009, at which point the long-planned refurbishment of the portrait gallery could begin, with funding from the [[Scottish Government]] and the [[Heritage Lottery Fund]], amongst others. The work generally restores the gallery spaces to their original layout, with areas set aside for education, the shop & café, and a new glass lift—greatly improving access for disabled visitors. In total Portrait has 60% more gallery space after the changes, and at the reopening displayed 849 works, of which 480 were by Scots. The cost of the refurbishment was £17.6 million. The entire building comprises 5672 Sq. metres.<ref>Portrait, 9–10; Press, Facts and Statistics</ref>

==The building==
{{Multiple image
| header =
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| image1= Grand Hall of the National Portrait Gallery, Scotland.jpg
| caption1 = Main entrance hall, with the [[William Hole (artist)|William Hole]] frieze of 1898
| image2= David Hume and Adam Smith statues, Edinburgh.jpg
| caption2 = <small>Sculpted figures of [[David Hume]] and [[Adam Smith]] on the exterior</small>
| image3 = The Library and Print Room at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.jpg
| caption3 = Library and Print Room
}}
The National Portrait Gallery building is a large edifice at the east end of Queen Street, built in red sandstone from Corsehill Quarry, outside Annan in [[Dumfriesshire]]. It was designed by [[Robert Rowand Anderson]] in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style with a combination of [[Arts and Crafts Movement|Arts and Crafts]] and 13th-century Gothic influences, and is a [[Category A listed building]]. Built between 1885 and 1890, the building is noted for its ornate [[Spanish Gothic architecture|Spanish Gothic]] style, an unusual addition to Edinburgh's mostly [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] [[New Town, Edinburgh|New Town]]. The windows are in carved pointed arches and the main entrance on the Queen Street front, surrounded a large gabled arch, leads to the main entrance hall, arcaded with pointed arches, which originally served both the National Portrait Gallery to its east, and the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland to its west. A distinctive feature of the gallery is its four octagonal corner towers topped with [[crocket]]ed Gothic [[pinnacle]]s; originally, Anderson had intended to flank the facade with a pair of large Franco-Scottish [[Turret (architecture)|tourelle]]s, but these were replaced at the request of the benefactor by the pointed turrets seen today.<ref name=listed>{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB27764|desc=QUEEN STREET, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY WITH LAMP STANDARDS|cat=A|access-date=26 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

Anderson's design was influenced by a number of other Gothic and Gothic Revival architectural works, in particular the rectangular Gothic [[Doge's Palace]] in [[Venice]] and the works of [[George Gilbert Scott]], and similarities have also been drawn between the Portrait Gallery and Anderson's [[Mount Stuart House]] on the [[Isle of Bute]], which he designed for the [[John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute|3rd Marquess of Bute]] in the late 1870s.<ref name=listed/><ref name="auto"/>

Around the exterior are sculpted figures of noted Scots set in [[Niche (architecture)|niche]]s, designed by [[William Birnie Rhind]]. These were added in the 1890s to compensate for the lack of contemporary portraits of medieval Scots in the gallery's collection at the time, as was the large processional [[frieze]] inside the main entrance hall, painted by [[William Hole (artist)|William Hole]]. This mural, added in 1898, depicts an array of notable Scots from history, ranging from [[Saint Ninian]] to [[Robert Burns]]. Figures were added to the frieze over the years after the gallery opened, and Hole added further large mural narrative scenes on the 1st floor later.<ref>Portrait, 12–13</ref>

==Collection==
The museum's collection totals some 3,000 paintings and sculptures, 25,000 prints and drawings, and 38,000 photographs.<ref>Press, Press release, p. 1, ([http://www.nationalgalleries.org/aboutus/press-office/ not yet online here])</ref> The collection essentially begins in the Renaissance, initially with works mainly by foreign artists of Scottish royalty, nobility, and mainly printed portraits of clergymen and writers; the most notable paintings were mostly made on the Continent (often during periods of exile from the turbulent Scottish political scene). As in England, the [[Scottish Reformation]] all but extinguished religious art, and until the 19th century portrait painting dominated Scottish painting, with patrons gradually extending down the social scale. In the 16th century most painted portraits are of royalty or the more important nobility; the oldest work in the collection is a portrait of [[James IV of Scotland]] from 1507.<ref>Press, "Facts and Statistics"</ref>

The collection includes two portraits of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], although neither dates from her lifetime; one was painted some 20 years after her death in 1587, and the other is later still; there are also a number of 19th-century paintings showing scenes from her life. Mary's circle is actually better represented by portraits from the life, with her three husbands all having portraits, including [[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley|Darnley]] by [[Hans Eworth]] and an unknown painter, and miniatures from 1566 of [[James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell|Bothwell]] and his [[Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell|first wife]]. There is a portrait of Mary's nemesis, [[James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton|Regent Morton]], by [[Arnold Bronckhorst]] who was from 1581 the first artist to hold the title of "King's Painter" in Scotland, though he only spent about three years there. The gallery holds several works by Bronckhorst and his successor, [[Adrian Vanson]]; both were skilled painters in the [[Netherlandish]] tradition.<ref>MGS website online collection (also includes Scottish National Gallery) for [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/V/237/artistName/Adrian%20Vanson Vanson] and [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/B/2836/artistName/Arnold%20Bronckorst Bronckorst]</ref>

The collection includes portraits by Bronckhorst and Vanson of [[James VI and I]], but the others were made after he succeeded to the English throne and moved to London, where the many portraits of other [[Stuart dynasty|Stuart]] monarchs were also mostly painted. The first significant native Scot to be a portrait painter, [[George Jamesone]] (1589/90-1644) only once got the chance to paint his monarch, when [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] visited Edinburgh in 1633. The collection includes two Jamesone self-portraits and portraits of the Scottish aristocracy, as well as some imagined portraits of heroes of Scotland's past.<ref>MGS website online collection (also includes Scottish National Gallery) for [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/J/5402/artistName/George%20Jamesone Jamesone]</ref> There are three portraits by Jamesone's talented pupil [[John Michael Wright]] and ten aristocratic portraits by Sir [[John Baptist Medina]], the last "King's Painter" before the [[Acts of Union 1707]].<ref>MGS website online collection (also includes Scottish National Gallery) for [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/M/5808/artistName/Sir%20John%20Baptiste%20de%20Medina Medina]</ref>

<gallery>
File:Agnes Douglas Countess of Argyll.jpg|[[Adrian Vanson]], Agnes Douglas, Countess of Argyll, 1599
File:Mary, Queen of Scotland, legitimist pretender to England, Ireland and France.jpg|[[Mary, Queen of Scots]], posthumous portrait, c. 1610
File:GeorgeJamesone.jpg|[[George Jamesone]], self-portrait, c. 1642
File:John Michael Wright - Lord Mungo Murray (Am Morair Mungo Moireach), 1668 - 1700. Son of 1st Marquess of Atholl - Google Art Project.jpg|[[John Michael Wright]], Lord Mungo Murray in plaid, 1683
File:Sir John Baptiste de Medina - Sir John Baptiste de Medina, 1659 - 1710. Portrait painter (Self-portrait) - PG 1555 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg|[[John Baptist Medina]], self-portrait, 1698
</gallery>

The display "Blazing with Crimson: Tartan Portraits" (until December 2013) concentrates on portraits featuring [[tartan]], which begin to be painted in the late 17th century, at that time apparently with no political connotations. The museum has one of the earliest examples, a full-length portrait of 1683 by John Michael Wright of Lord Mungo Murray, son of [[John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl]], wearing a [[belted plaid]] for hunting.<ref>[http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/W/5828/artistName/John%20Michael%20Wright/recordId/3361 MGS, Lord Mungo Murray] [Am Morair Mungo Moireach], 1668–1700. Son of 1st Marquess of Atholl, about 1683</ref> The wearing of tartan was banned after the [[1745 Jacobite Rebellion]], but reappears in grand portraits after a few decades, before becoming ever more popular with [[Romanticism]] and the works of [[Sir Walter Scott]]. Also wearing tartan is [[Flora MacDonald]], painted by [[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]] in London after her arrest for helping [[Bonnie Prince Charlie]] to escape after the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion.

Scottish portrait painting flourished in the 18th century and [[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]] and Sir [[Henry Raeburn]] are well represented with 13 and 15 works respectively,<ref>Press, "Facts and Statistics", see also MGS website online collection (also includes Scottish National Gallery) for [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/R/4399/artistName/Sir%20Henry%20Raeburn Raeburn], and [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/R/6240/artistName/Allan%20Ramsay Ramsay]</ref> the former with many paintings of figures from the [[Scottish Enlightenment]], as well as the recently acquired [[lost portrait of Charles Edward Stuart]], and the career of the latter extending into the 19th century with portraits of Walter Scott and others. The museum owns the iconic portrait of [[Robert Burns]] by [[Alexander Nasmyth]]. The largest number of works by a single artist is the 58 by the sculptor and gem-cutter [[James Tassie]] (1735–1799), who developed a distinctive format of large fired glass paste (or [[vitreous enamel]]) [[relief]] "medallion" portraits in profile, initially modelled in wax. His subjects include [[Adam Smith]], [[James Beattie (poet)|James Beattie]] and [[Robert Adam]]. Adam disliked having his portrait taken but Tassie was a member of his social circle he did not refuse, with the result that, as with the Naysmyth portrait of Burns, almost all images of Smith derive from the exemplar in the museum.<ref>Press, "Facts and Statistics", see also MGS website online collection (also includes Scottish National Gallery) for
[http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/T/5448/artistName/James%20Tassie Tassie] and [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/T/5448/artistName/James%20Tassie/recordId/3788 Adam Smith]</ref>

<gallery>
File:Wilson - Flora MacDonald.jpg|[[Richard Wilson (painter)|Richard Wilson]], [[Flora MacDonald]], 1747
File:David Hume 2.jpg|[[Allan Ramsay (artist)|Allan Ramsay]], [[David Hume]], 1766
File:Charles Edward Stuart (1775).jpg|[[Hugh Douglas Hamilton]], "[[Bonnie Prince Charlie]]" in later life, 1775
File:PG 1063Burns Naysmith.jpg|[[Robert Burns]] by [[Alexander Nasmyth]], 1787
File:Sir Henry Raeburn - Portrait of Sir Walter Scott.jpg|[[Henry Raeburn]], Sir [[Walter Scott]], 1822
</gallery>

The later 19th century in Scotland had no such dominant figures, but many fine artists, and saw the beginning of photography. The museum devotes a gallery to the photographs of [[Glasgow]] life taken by [[Thomas Annan]], especially the images of slums taken in 1868–71, and in general the displays concentrate on the common people of Scotland. The collection continues to expand in the present day, with Scottish painters such as [[John Bellany]] ([[Peter Maxwell Davies]], self-portrait and [[Billy Connolly]]) and [[John Byrne (playwright)|John Byrne]], whose works include images of himself, [[Tilda Swinton]], Billy Connolly and [[Robbie Coltrane]].<ref>MGS website online collection (also includes Scottish National Gallery) for [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/B/4527/artistName/John%20Bellany John Bellany] and [http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/B/8380/artistName/John%20Byrne John Byrne]</ref>

Other works in the collection include:

*[[James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton]], by [[Daniel Mytens]]
*[[Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton]], by [[Oskar Kokoschka]]
*[[Winnie Ewing]] by [[Norman Edgar]]
*[[Alex Ferguson]] by [[David Mach]]
*[[Ian Wilmut]] by [[Wendy McMurdo]]
*[[Robin Jenkins]] by [[Jennifer McRae]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*"Portrait"; ''Portrait of the Nation, An Introduction to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery'', (no author given), 2011, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, {{ISBN|978-1-906270-37-7}}
*"Press"; Press pack for the reopening in December 2011

== External links ==
{{wikinews|A portrait of Scotland: Gallery reopens after £17.6 million renovation}}

* {{commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/scottish-national-portrait-gallery Scottish National Portrait Gallery] on National Galleries Scotland website

{{Edinburgh}}
{{Scottish Museums and Art Galleries}}
{{Scottish art}}
{{Culture and leisure facilities in Edinburgh}}
{{Buildings and Structures in Edinburgh|state=collapsed}}
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[[Category:1889 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:History of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1890]]
[[Category:Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1889]]
[[Category:National Galleries Scotland| Portrait]]
[[Category:Robert Rowand Anderson buildings]]
[[Category:Photography museums and galleries in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Photography in Scotland]]
[[Category:Portrait galleries]]
[[Category:National galleries|Scottish Portrait gallery]]

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Scottish National Portrait Gallery