Robert Herdman
Mary, Queen of Scots: The Farewell to France
1867After the death of her husband, Mary lost her title as queen of France and decided to return to Scotland. She arrived at the port of Leith on 19 August 1561 and although she was the Scottish monarch, she found her circumstances had dramatically changed.
In her absence a political revolution had taken place - Scotland’s parliament was now firmly Protestant. Mary, a Roman Catholic, found herself under attack from the Protestant leader, John Knox, and his followers. Yet she negotiated a compromise by maintaining the religious ‘status quo’ and appointed a number of moderate Protestants as her advisors.
- Glossary (2 terms)
- Open
Commission
When an individual or organisation employs an artist to execute a particular project, the process and the resulting work are termed a `commission?.
Tableau vivant
French for 'living picture'. The term describes a striking group of carefully posed and costumed people, who remain silent and motionless as in a picture.
- Glossary (3 terms)
- Open
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) was formed in Edinburgh in 1826 by Scottish artists who felt alienated by what they perceived as the elitism of the Royal Institution and its management of contemporary art exhibitions. In 1835, the RSA secured exhibition rights in the Royal Institution building, which had been erected on The Mound by the Board of Manufactures in 1826. The RSA and the Board frequently argued over responsibilities for advanced art education. From 1859, the RSA shared the premises of the new National Gallery of Scotland under the Board?s custody. In 1910, after transferring most of its art collections to the Gallery, the RSA gained exclusive tenancy of the former Royal Institution building, where it continues to hold large-scale annual exhibitions.
Trustees' Academy
The Trustees? Academy was founded in Edinburgh in 1760 by the Board of Trustees for the Improvement of Fisheries and Manufactures in Scotland. This was the earliest publicly funded art school in Britain, but during the early years it was essentially an elementary drawing school dedicated to applied design. The students included practical craftsmen as well as fine artists. The school gradually developed more facilities for advanced fine art education, including a plaster cast collection. In 1826, it relocated to a new building on The Mound, which was erected by the Board. The Trustees? Academy was reformed in 1858, using the well established government Schools of Design in London as its model, and was the direct ancestor of Edinburgh College of Art, established in 1907.
Watercolour
A paint with colouring and binding agents diluted with water. It has a transparent quality and is usually applied to paper.
- Credits Bequest of Miss Mary Beatrice Maude Herdman 1995
- Medium Oil on canvas
- Size 91.80 x 71.40 cm (framed: 112.00 x 92.00 x 8.10 cm)
