Watercolour painting depicting a scene from Sir Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake, c 1815
Scope and Contents
This is a watercolour painting of a scene from Sir Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake, by Thomas Stothard, signed. The scene depicts Ellen Douglas and James Fitz-James (i.e. King James V of Scotland in disguise) on a rocky shore (of Loch Katrine), with him in a skiff, holding a pole. This is either the moment of going ashore, in Canto I of Scott's poem, or the moment in Canto II, when he departs the next day. The hunting horn (small) with which he initially summoned help is apparent amongst his apparel.
Dates
- Creation: c 1815
Creator
- Stothard, Thomas, 1755-1834 (Artist, Person)
Language of Materials
Caption in English
Physical Description
Painting 34 x 31 cm, signed lower left, mounted on card (damaged), paper a little tones, adhesion marks in margin extremeties from earlier mount, with early 20th century c. gold window mount and backing paper of similar date.
Conditions Governing Access
Open. Please contact the repository in advance.
Biographical / Historical
Walter Scott's poem The Lady of the Lake, published in 1810, achieved enormous and widespread influence. It also attracted first-class artists to depict it and other of Scott's work, including J. M. W. Turner and Richard Westall. Thomas Stothard (1755-1834), friend of Flaxman and Blake, was one of the most prolific, successful, and popular artists of his generation, and was hughly thought of by Scott. He had made a small engraved illustration for The Lady of the Lake in 1812, and plenty of other illustrations for various of Scott's works, particularly for the 1813 edition of Rokeby, and the 1820 edition of Tales of my Landlord.
Extent
1 item ; 34 x 31 cm (without frame)
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased in June 2018. Accession no. SC-Acc-2019-0050.
Physical Description
Painting 34 x 31 cm, signed lower left, mounted on card (damaged), paper a little tones, adhesion marks in margin extremeties from earlier mount, with early 20th century c. gold window mount and backing paper of similar date.
Processing Information
Description created by Aline Brodin in November 2020, using information from the seller.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk