National Galleries of Scotland: The National, Edinburgh

The National (as it’s recently been renamed) was another one of the those places I hadn’t managed to get to on my previous visit to the city so I made sure to pop in this time. I arrived in Edinburgh just at the right time as they had recently revamped the building with newly opened galleries specifically to highlight Scottish artists in their collection which I was particularly eager to see. Free to enter the gallery can be found just off Princes Street by the Scott Monument.

Designed by William Henry Playfair in a neo-classical style it opened in 1859 to house both Scottish and international works of art. As you’ll know from other posts I take significantly less photos in art galleries than anywhere else but what I particularly did want to photograph/see in person was The Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Landseer. If you have spent any time in the UK you’ll have seen this familiar image on biscuit tins all over the place but that certainly can’t lessen the thrill of seeing the original up close. Commissioned as part of a series to hang in the Houses of Parliament it actually ended up in a private collection once the House of Commons refused to pay for it! It was sold around to various brands (hence the biscuit tins etc.) before the National Gallery was able to purchase it in 2017 for £4 million.

I also photographed Eastre (Hymn to the Sun) by John Duncan Fergusson. Eastre was the pagan goddess of spring and fertility and is probably based on the features of Fergusson’s long term partner Margaret Morris.

One final piece I photographed was this statue called The Campbell Sisters Dancing a Waltz by Lorenzo Bartolini. The gallery says that this is the most important piece of Italian sculpture carved for a Scottish person in the nineteenth century. The women are the two daughters of Lady Charlotte Campbell, sister of the Duke of Argyll dancing a waltz. It was made in Florence and then shipped over to Edinburgh. I love the detailing and how well it depicts the feeling of movement.

It’s a lovely gallery, spacious, well laid out with more than enough to keep you occupied for an afternoon.