William Brassey Hole

Scottish National Portrait Gallery; cartoons for processional frieze (Septimius Severus to Stone Age)

About this artwork

This drawing – or cartoon – is a study for part of the frieze that can be found in the main hall of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It was designed by William Hole, who meticulously sketched and designed every part of the internal decorative scheme before painting it. This section features on the left side of the north wall. It is the beginning of the frieze and runs chronologically from right to left. On the far right are four figures that represent the Stone Age, followed by three Bronze Age men. The others are important figures from the Roman times and include Hadrian, the Roman Emperor who built Hadrian’s Wall – for centuries the northern border of the Roman Empire in Britain – and Antoninus Pius, who commissioned the Antonine wall.

Updated before 2020

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William Brassey Hole

William Brassey Hole