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
-
artist:William Brassey Hole (1846 - 1917) English
-
title:Scottish National Portrait Gallery; cartoons for processional frieze (Septimius Severus to Stone Age)
-
date created:About 1898
-
materials:Sepia wash over pencil on paper
-
measurements:35.50 x 76.80 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Purchased 1984
-
accession number:PG 2631 A
-
gallery:
-
glossary:
William Brassey Hole
William Brassey Hole
Edinburgh-based artist William Hole specialised in history painting and etching. Around 1895 he volunteered to decorate the chancel of St James’ Church on Inverleith Row with large-scale murals. In 1897 the still unfinished work came to the attention of John Ritchie Findlay, owner of The Scotsman...