Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Scott Monument
(
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk
; East Princes Street Gardens; admission £3;
10am-7pm Mon-Sat Apr-Sep, 9am-4pm Mon-Sat Oct-Mar, 10am-6pm Sun year-round)
The eastern half of Princes Street Gardens is dominated by the massive Gothic spire of the
Scott Monument, built by public subscription in memory of the novelist Sir Walter Scott
after his death in 1832. The exterior is decorated with carvings of characters from his nov-
els; inside you can see an exhibition on Scott's life, and climb the 287 steps to the top for
a superb view of the city.
MONUMENT
GALLERY
Scottish National Gallery
(
www.nationalgalleries.org
;
The Mound; fee for special exhibitions; 10am-5pm Fri-
Wed, to 7pm Thu)
Designed by William Playfair, this imposing classical building with its
Ionic porticoes dates from the 1850s. Its octagonal rooms, lit by skylights, have been re-
stored to their original Victorian decor of deep-green carpets and dark-red walls.
The gallery houses an important collection of
European art
from the Renaissance to
post-Impressionism, with works by Verrocchio (Leonardo da Vinci's teacher), Tintoretto,
Titian, Holbein, Rubens, Van Dyck, Vermeer, El Greco, Poussin, Rembrandt, Gainsbor-
ough, Turner, Constable, Monet, Pissarro, Gauguin and Cézanne. Each January the gallery
exhibits its collection of
Turner watercolours
, bequeathed by Henry Vaughan in 1900.
Room X is graced by Antonio Canova's white marble sculpture,
The Three Graces
;
it is
owned jointly with London's Victoria & Albert Museum.
The upstairs galleries house portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir Henry Raeburn,
and a clutch of
Impressionist
paintings, including Monet's luminous
Haystacks,
Van
Gogh's demonic
Olive Trees
and Gauguin's hallucinatory
Vision After the Sermon
. But
the painting that really catches your eye is the gorgeous portrait,
Lady Agnew of Lochnaw,
by John Singer Sargent.
The basement galleries dedicated to
Scottish art
include glowing portraits by Allan
Ramsay and Sir Henry Raeburn, rural scenes by Sir David Wilkie and Impressionistic
landscapes by William MacTaggart. Look out for Raeburn's iconic
Reverend Robert
Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch,
and Sir George Harvey's hugely entertaining
A
Schule Skailin
(A School Emptying) - a stern dominie (teacher) looks on as the boys
stampede for the classroom door, one reaching for a confiscated spinning top. Kids will
love the fantasy paintings of Sir Joseph Noel Paton in room B5; the incredibly detailed
canvases are crammed with hundreds of tiny fairies, goblins and elves.
