Scottish National Portrait Gallery
Address: 1 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JD
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery opened in 1889 as the first purpose-built portrait gallery in the world. It houses Scotland’s national collection of portraits. All of the original artwork in the gallery came from one eighteenth century art collector, David 11th Earl of Buchan. His compilation of portraits of famous Scots formed the basis the national portrait collection, which has now grown to total over 30,000 works. This includes art from the sixteenth century to the present day. There is a great variety of media, such as paintings, sculptures, drawings, watercolours, miniatures, coins and medallions.
The building itself is a work of art. Designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson, it is dedicated to some of Scotland’s greatest heroes, with ornate decoration, both inside and outside. Built in red sandstone in a neo-gothic style, the exterior features intricate sculptures of famous Scots, such as William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots and Robert the Bruce. While the interior includes a pageant frieze and several murals depicting historical figures like Robert Burns and David Hume.
5 things to do at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery
- Explore the elaborate red sandstone building, both inside and out. Look out for friezes, murals, sculptures and embellishment adorning every surface.
- See the portraits on display. They are all of Scots, by artists from all over the world, including Ramsay, Raeburn, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Copley, Thorvaldsen, Rodin and Kokoschka.
- Look out for historical figures like Mary Queen of Scots, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Sir Walter Scott. There are also many modern portraits such as those of Sean Connery, Alex Ferguson and Robbie Coltrane.
- View special exhibitions, on throughout the year.
- After visiting the galleries head to Café Portrait, where you can enjoy lunch or coffee and cake.
