Looking Up: The Sculptures of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
By Annie Coughlan
A trip through Edinburgh Waverly Station is an experience shared by many St Andrews students, the landscape of the surrounding area of the city centre a well-known sight to those travelling up on the train. Indeed, just down the road on the corner of Queen’s Street, next to St Andrews Square, sits the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. The impressive neo-Gothic building, designed by Robert Rowand Anderson and opened in 1889, is frequently under construction, my first time experiencing the façade in full occurring during my return to university at the end of the summer. The niches of the building are decorated by figures that celebrate Scottish history, analysis of the sculptures exploring the purpose of the institution and celebrating the most significant Scottish sculptors of the nineteenth century.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Photo courtesy of Wee Walking Tours.
The alcoves of the National Portrait Gallery are filled by commissioned works, funded by a variety of prominent Scottish patrons. The sculptor, William Birnie Rhind was one of the main contributors to the array of over thirty statues. Most famously, Rhind produced the three figures of Mary Queen of Scots with her supporters bishop John Lesley and politician William Maitland, commissioned by Sarah Mair, leader of the women’s rights committee, the ‘Ladies of Edinburgh’. Indeed, John Richie Findlay owner of The Scotsman newspaper, was one of the most significant patrons in the decoration of the gallery’s façade, commissioning the iconic sculpture of King James VI and I by David Watson Stevenson, who also produced the statue of mathematician John Napier, funded by the Scottish Faculty of Actuaries. The figures celebrate the long history and intellectual foundations of the building, yet the medium of the sculptures means they must frequently undergo restoration and be taken off public display. The works and building itself are made from red Corsehill sandstone, a popular stone in the nineteenth century as it was quarried in Dumfriesshire in the south west of Scotland. However, such a sandstone tends to crack and allow water to enter which reduces its structural integrity, a particularly pertinent problem in light of Scottish weather (as seen in the image of the headless King James).
William Birnie Rhind, Sculpture of Mary, Queen of Scots. Photo courtesy of National Galleries Scotland.
Indeed, due to the fragility of the medium, a new sculpture has been added to the façade for the first time since the Victorian period. The original sculpture of Clio, the muse of history, was produced by William Birnie Rhind and installed in 1893. However, its location right above the entrance way of the gallery resulted in significant weathering damage, the work removed due to safety concerns that it would fall down. In 2011, contemporary Scottish artist Alexander Stoddart was commissioned to create a replacement sculpture, having previously contributed to public art in Edinburgh through his statues of David Hume and Adam Smith on the Royal Mile and the physicist James Clerk Maxwell on George Street. The new statue is cast in aluminium, contrasting with the red stone of the façade and yet providing a modern touch the face of the gallery. Indeed, amongst a set of sculptures that celebrate some of the most significant Scottish historical figures and artists of the period, the contemporary statue of the muse of history demonstrates the continuously evolving nature of the history the gallery has on display.
Bibliography
Ferguson Brian, ‘Alexander Stoddart sculpture unveiled in Edinburgh’, The Scotsman, 10th October 2013.
https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/alexander-stoddart-sculpture-unveiled-in-edinburgh-1558414
Louis, Liz, ‘Things are looking up’, National Galleries Scotland, 11th February 2022.
https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/things-are-looking