About this artwork
Music is an essential part of Scottish culture. Ballads, or ‘muckle sangs’ in Scots, have been an important way of telling and passing down stories since the Middle Ages. The Ballad, positioned between the windows on the North wall on the first floor in the Great Hall of the Scottish National portrait Gallery, shows a minstrel entertaining ladies of the royal court. Although rooted in the fifteenth century through its historical detail, The Ballad does not represent a specific event but symbolises a time of peace.
Updated 2021
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artist:William Brassey Hole (1846 - 1917) English
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title:The Ballad
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date created:1898 - 1902
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materials:variant of spirit fresco on plaster
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object type:
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accession number:UPG.037
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gallery:
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artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
William Brassey Hole
William Brassey Hole
Edinburgh-based artist William Hole specialised in history painting and etching. Around 1895 he volunteered to decorate the chancel of St James’ Church on Inverleith Row with large-scale murals. In 1897 the still unfinished work came to the attention of John Ritchie Findlay, owner of The Scotsman...