About this artwork
Robert Burns became a Freemason in 1781 and soon rose to become depute master of St James Lodge in Tarbolton. The subject here is the poet's inauguration as Poet Laureate in the Canongate Kilwinning Lodge No 2, in Edinburgh in 1787. The scene was painted nearly sixty years later, using prints and family pictures to produce accurate portraits of those present. The Canongate Lodge, also known as St John's Chapel, is the oldest purpose-built Masonic meeting room in the world, dating from 1736. The organ in the background is still played at Lodge meetings.
Updated before 2020
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artist:William Stewart Watson (1800 - 1870) Scottish
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title:The Inauguration of Robert Burns as Poet Laureate of the Lodge
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date created:1846
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materials:Oil on canvas
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measurements:83.80 x 132.10 cm; Framed: 95.00 x 143.00 x 5.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Purchased 1922
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accession number:PG 946
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
William Stewart Watson
William Stewart Watson
William Stewart Watson was born in 1800 and died in Edinburgh in 1870. His style seems based on the work of his contemporary Sir William Allan, a successful Royal Academy painter. Stewart Watson is said to have practised for some years in America, but he was in Rome in 1840 and in London between...