About this artwork
Robert Burns's 'Highland Mary' was written in 1792. Thomas Stothard was a celebrated illustrator of novels, poetry and songs and his work was enormously appealing. Here, he shows Burns with his ‘Highland Mary’, or Mary Campbell. She and Burns had a love affair in 1786, and Burns wrote about their love. This watercolour evokes lines from the second verse: "How sweetly bloom’d the gay, green birk,/ How rich the hawthorn’s blossom,/ As underneath their fragrant shade,/ I clasp’d her to my bosom!".
Updated before 2020
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artist:Thomas Stothard (1755 - 1834) English
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title:Illustration to Burns's Song 'Highland Mary'
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date created:Unknown
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materials:Watercolour on paper
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measurements:9.90 x 13.90 cm
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object type:
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credit line:William Finlay Watson Bequest 1881
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accession number:D 2542
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gallery:
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subject:
Thomas Stothard
Thomas Stothard
Born in 1755, Stothard he entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1777 where he began long-term friendships with John Flaxman and William Blake. It was during this time at the Royal Academy that Stothard began producing illustrations for books, which was to become one of the most important and...
