The Sir Walter Scott Monument under Construction
About this artwork
In 1840 work began on the Scott Monument, which was designed by George Meikle Kemp and celebrates Scotland’s most famous author, Sir Walter Scott. From 1843 until its completion two years later, Hill and Adamson charted the monument’s progress. In order to get a clear view of the building works, they hoisted themselves and their equipment onto the roof of what is now the Royal Scottish Academy. In this image, the neo-gothic steeple of the monument is about half its final height. The background has since changed; the row of houses to the right no longer exists and the view of Calton Hill has been obscured by the Balmoral, a large hotel on Princes Street.
Updated before 2020
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artists:
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title:The Sir Walter Scott Monument under Construction
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date created:1843
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materials:Salted paper print
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measurements:20.10 x 14.90 cm
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object type:
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accession number:PGP HA 424
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
David Octavius Hill
David Octavius Hill
A painter and a lithographer by training, David Octavius Hill is best remembered for the beauty of the calotypes he and Robert Adamson produced together. Hill was a sociable and kind-hearted man who did much to support the arts in Scotland and between 1830 and 1836 he was the unpaid Secretary of...