The Nungate Bridge, Haddington
About this artwork
This still and tranquil scene shows the sixteenth-century Nungate Bridge in the village of Haddington, East Lothian. The bridge was one of the few places that travellers to and from Edinburgh could cross the River Tyne. McKay painted the bridge and village bathed in hazy sunlight. The slow-ebbing river and the figures leisurely strolling along the banks give the scene a languid stillness. This stillness, and the lack of any traces of modern life, lends the scene a timeless impression. Indeed, McKay chose to emphasise the old and enduring aspects of Haddington life: the river, the bridge and the old buildings.
Updated before 2020
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artist:William Darling McKay (1844 - 1924) Scottish
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title:The Nungate Bridge, Haddington
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date created:1901
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:78.40 x 110.30 cm; Framed: 112.00 x 143.60 x 12.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1988
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accession number:NG 2463
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gallery:
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subject:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
William Darling McKay
William Darling McKay
William Darling McKay was born in Gifford, East Lothian in 1844. He studied art in Edinburgh before travelling to Holland, where he was greatly influenced by the painters of The Hague School. Like the French Barbizon painters, The Hague painters preferred to work out of doors, concentrating on the...