Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Three Oncologists, by Ken Currie

Because we continue to underestimate the Scots, we thought we'd give the Scottish National Portrait Gallery a couple of hours this morning as a warm up to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art where we assumed we would spend most of our day.

We never made it to the Modern Art Gallery. And not just because it was raining.

Detail from the mural in the Great Hall by William Hole showing Mary Queen of Scots and her murdered husband Darnley. Fun fact: Mary Queen of Scots was said to be more than six feet tall.

A brainchild of Thomas Carlyle, the SNPG is grand in every way: the building is spectacular; the Great Hall is, well, great; and the collection is sweeping and meticulously curated.

Just one example: you can find works detailing the life of Bonnie Prince Charlie from auspicious birth to ignominious age and death.

Charles as baby Hercules.

Charles as on old man who never became king.

They also have a whole room dedicated to the execution of Charles I!

The more modern galleries are similarly impressive, with some exceptional works, and none more so than the one at the top of this post. The artist, Ken Currie, said "I had a discussion with one of the doctors about the nature of cancer. He said that people see cancer as a kind of darkness and his job is to go in there and retrieve people from the darkness." That, said Currie, was the key to the picture.

Tomorrow - an all-day bus ride looking at lochs through the mist and rain!

Thanks for reading!

Karen