Edinburgh, 16th June 1567 (formerly known as The Return of Mary, Queen of Scots to Edinburgh)
About this artwork
The present-day title would suggest that this picture shows Mary's return to Edinburgh after her defeat at Carberry Hill, but Drummond actually portrayed Mary’s subsequent departure from Edinburgh at sunset on 17 June 1567 to be incarcerated in the island fortress of Lochleven Castle. She is shown encountering the banner with its hostile slogan, accusing her of Darnley's murder. The character of Mary fascinated many nineteenth-century writers and painters, and different views as to her guilt or misfortune were put forward. Drummond does not reveal his own attitude, but suggests by means of Mary's fallen glove (a glove or gage required a champion to pick it up and fight in its defence) the enigma and challenge which her story still poses.
Updated before 2020
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artist:James Drummond (1816 - 1877) Scottish
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title:Edinburgh, 16th June 1567 (formerly known as The Return of Mary, Queen of Scots to Edinburgh)
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date created:1870
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:86.40 x 125.10 cm; Framed: 108.50 x 147.50 x 7.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Bequest of the artist 1877
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accession number:NG 625
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gallery:
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depicted:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
James Drummond
James Drummond
Drummond was a history and genre painter, draughtsman and antiquary. His fascination with the history, antiquities and traditions of Edinburgh was first stimulated by his family’s occupancy of the Netherbow tenement which had been known since the eighteenth century as John Knox’s House. His...