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Scotsman
09-05-2025
- General
- Scotsman
The World of King James VI and I, Edinburgh review: 'a must-see show'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... The World of King James VI and I, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh ★★★★★ James VI and I reigned for 58 years - not a bad record for any monarch, and he lived in troubled times. Born in 1566 he became king of Scotland in 1567, aged just one, then king of England in 1603, and died as king of both nations in 1625. Anti-Scottish feeling in England is nothing new and as a Scot ruling England, James was not going to be instantly popular. Briefing against him started at once and much of that hostility has stuck to his reputation. A pamphlet entitled 'The Court and Character of King James Written and Taken by Sir A.W. being an Eye and Eare Witness' sets the hostile tone with unpleasant personal remarks about the king's appearance and habits. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Detail from a portrait of James VI and I attributed to Adrian Vanson, 1566 - 1625 | National Galleries of Scotland This pamphlet is included in a brilliant exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, which sets out to redeem James's reputation. It includes paintings, portraits, letters, books and precious objects. James's portraits both from before his move south by Adrian Vanson and from shortly after the move by John de Crtiz show him as intelligent but withdrawn and watchful, as well he might be. The iconography of a large picture that greets you at the entrance of the exhibition is an elaborate accusation that his mother Mary was complicit in the murder of his father, Henry Darnley. Later an engraving shows the Guy Fawkes conspirators in a group. These were tough and turbulent times. James maybe didn't always get it right but he not only survived, he managed the transition from Scotland to England and, for better of for worse, his successful Union of the Crowns laid the foundations for the Act of Union under his great-granddaughter, Queen Anne. Detail from a portrait of Anna of Denmark, Queen of James VI and I by John de Critz, 1605 | National Galleries of Scotland Although his tutor, George Buchanan, looks pretty fierce in his portrait, James grew up both literate and cultivated. He wrote both verse and prose. The exhibition also includes jewellery, miniatures and and precious objects that testify to the sophistication of his court, both in Scotland and after he moved south. These objects include a beautiful clock by a Scottish clockmaker, David Ramsay, and the Eglinton Jewel by jeweller George Heriot, also the king's banker. Aptly, the school in Edinburgh that bears George Heriot's name is built in the Danish style. It looks a bit like Hamlet's Elsinore, and the exhibition gives full credit to James's Queen, Anna of Denmark, for the sophistication of their court. As the exhibition points out, too, it was James and Anna, not Elizabeth Tudor, who were Shakespeare's principal patrons. James preferred peace to war and the tangled power politics of Reformation Europe are reflected here in the dynastic marriages he either sought unsuccessfully, or actually realised for his children. After failing to catch a Spanish princess, James's son and heir, Charles, married Henrietta Maria, daughter of the King of France. James's daughter, Elizabeth, married Frederick Elector of Bohemia. She is known as the Winter Queen because she was for just one year Queen of Bohemia. She was, however, also the direct ancestor of our present monarch, but that is certainly not the only reason that this is a must-see show.
The National
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
New exhibition considers the life of King James VI & I
Some consider his 58-year reign to be less historically significant than the lives of his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, and his son, King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland. The execution of Mary in 1587 was a key moment in Europe's religious conflict, while the regicide of Charles in 1649 marked the dramatic victory of the English Revolution. Other people would place the emphasis on James's fanatical obsession with witches and witchcraft, which led to the gruesome executions of more than 2500 people (the overwhelming majority of them women) in Scotland alone. Then there is James, the gay icon, known for his intimacy with a number of young, attractive male favourites. READ MORE: Thousands of people turn out to pro-independence march in Wales Whatever aspect of James's life one considers to be most significant, one thing that is certain is that his accession to the English throne in 1603 set in train a political process that would lead, ultimately, to the formation of the British state in 1707. All of these aspects of James's life and reign – and others besides – are subjects of the fascinating new exhibition The World Of King James VI & I at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. The show boasts a rich and diverse series of paintings, drawings, artefacts, books and letters which cast a compelling light on James's life and times. The exhibition includes – as one would expect – a number of portraits of James, including a 1606 painting attributed to the Flemish artist John de Critz. This full-length portrait – in which the king leans nonchalantly against a piece of furniture while wearing a bejewelled black hat – testifies to James's love of fine clothes and jewellery. Perhaps the most interesting portrait of James – who acceded to the throne of Scotland at the tender age of 13 months – is the painting of him as a young boy kneeling at the memorial to his father, Lord Darnley, who was murdered when James was still an infant. Painted by another Flemish artist, Livinus de Vogelaare, it shows James as a very young boy, with a miniature crown on his head. The child cuts an isolated figure. His mother was in exile, his father dead, and he had no siblings. The Vogelaare picture depicts the power James will obtain when he comes of age, but it portrays, too, a child alone in the world, save for the courtiers who raised him. The show is understandably circumspect on the question of James's sexual orientation, about which there has been considerable speculation for more than 500 years. However, it does display intriguing artworks and items pertaining to the king's favourites. Arguably, the finest painting in the exhibition is that of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, by the great Flemish Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens. A beautifully executed portrait of a young man who is widely believed to have been one of James's lovers, the picture captures not only Villiers's unquestionably good looks, but also, somehow, his reputed charm and charisma. Following the death of Elizabeth I of England and his accession to the English throne, James would become the human embodiment of a developing union between Scotland and England. One fascinating artwork – from the surprisingly early point of 1604 – depicts a series of six proposals for the flag of the nascent United Kingdom, five of which place the Scottish St Andrew's cross in a secondary position to the English cross of St George. Curator Kate Anderson and her team have brought into the show aspects of James's times that – whilst very important – would surely have been overlooked in the past. One particularly significant subject is early European colonialism. READ MORE: John Swinney 'moved' as he meets with Northern Ireland FM at Pope Francis funeral We know from Shakespeare's final play The Tempest – which was written in 1610-11, during James reign in England – that European colonialism was already well under way. In the play, the Italian nobleman and sorcerer Prospero subjugates the native islander Caliban, whom he depicts, not as a human, but a monster. Two artworks in the show portray the complexity of the racist conception of the First Nations people of North America as an exotic 'other' by European colonialists. In one picture, we see the famous Native American writer Pocahontas, who has converted (forcibly or otherwise) to Christianity, is wearing Western garb and has married English tobacco plantation owner John Rolfe. In another spine-chilling and outrageous image, we see the Native American man Eiakintomino displayed – as an objectified, incarcerated human exhibit – in the zoo at St James's Park in London alongside animals and birds. Elsewhere in the exhibition, there are paintings of Mary, Queen of Scots, including a fictitious double portrait from the 1580s of Mary and her son, James VI. The painting is based upon existing portraits of the two, who could not have sat together at that time as Mary was imprisoned in England. There are depictions, too, of James's queen, Anne of Denmark. Objects in the show include coins from the period and a beautiful embroidered women's bodice, which was typical of the clothes worn in James's English court. For those who enjoy interactive elements in gallery exhibitions, there are numerous places in the show where one can scan a QR code to hear audio material. Indeed, at one impressive point, you can pass your smartphone over monochrome drawings of the grand wooden archways that were erected for James's London coronation and see them transformed into colour. Typically of the National Galleries of Scotland, this is a brilliantly put together exhibition, and one that offers superb, sometimes startling, insights into the life and times of the pivotal monarch in the development of the British state. The World Of King James VI & I is at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh until September 14:
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hiroshige's peerless prints, McCartney's unseen snaps and Vancouver's blue skies – the week in art
Hiroshige: Artist of the Open RoadIt's not hard to see why Hiroshige was Van Gogh's favourite Japanese printmaker – his colours have a radiant intensity almost without equal in art. British Museum, London, from 1 May until 7 September Do Ho Suh: Walk the House Installations that play with images of home by the noted Korean artist based in London. Tate Modern, London from 1 May until 19 October The World of King James VI and I The 17th-century ruler of both Scotland and England presided over an edgy cultural golden age. Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh from 26 April until 14 September Robert Thomas James Mills: Extratemporal An exploration of the nature of time and space by this Glasgow artist. CCA, Glasgow from 3 May until 24 May Lisa Milroy: The Colour Blue Paintings of blue skies and memories of a Vancouver childhood from an artist best known for her still lifes. Kate MacGarry, London from 3 May until 31 May Here you can see Brian Epstein, Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall setting off, with four mop-topped popsters, for New York in February 1964; one of the hitherto unseen glimpses into Beatlemania's birth shared by Paul McCartney, opening at the Gagosian gallery in Beverly Hills, California, today. Read the full story here The days of controversial and shocking Turner prize shortlists are over Scientists weren't sure a paint in the 'new' colour they've discovered has the right mix Mao Ishikawa's photographs honour people regarded as 'less than human' elsewhere Yinka Shonibare has filled a 2,200 sq m building in Madagascar with his works Royal exhibition will show 70 artworks of Charles touring the world over 40 years Richard Wright's new show is a mind-bending and mesmerising visual adventure Survivors of abuse have curated work by once revered sexual abuser Eric Gill JMW Turner, born 250 years ago this spring, remains Britain's greatest artist Ali Cherri's primeval sculptures use ancient artefacts to make new work Graven Hill, the UK's biggest self-build experiment, has lost some creative chaos Nymphs Surprised By Satyrs by Franchoys Wouters, about 1650-60 This painting belongs to a genre that flourished for hundreds of years, so it presumably pleased someone. First take your woodlands – tenderly, atmospherically painted by Wouters in shades of green and brown – then depict nude women resting in a leafy bower, in this case on luxurious bedding. It was a combination pioneered by the Venetian artists Giorgione and Titian in the early 1500s and taken up by later artists including Poussin and Rubens – in whose studio the painter of this canvas had worked. Such peepshow pastorals were among the first canvases to be bought by private collectors for personal enjoyment. Yet in this example, Wouters (again, following Titian) mocks the male viewer by adding lustful satyrs who peep at the snoozing women: look all you like, he laughs, but don't think you're better than these goatish voyeurs. He adds another twist. The two nymphs face each other and their feet touch as they lie in close tranquility: the satyrs have chanced on same-sex forest lovers. As ever in art, there's more going on than first meets the eye. National Gallery, London If you don't already receive our regular roundup of art and design news via email, please sign up here. If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@
Telegraph
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
The World of James VI and I: A fascinating tribute to the king of bling
You have to wonder whether history would have been kinder to James VI & I if he had ended up being beheaded. His mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, had been brought to the scaffold in 1587, her death warrant signed by Elizabeth I – an event that in centuries since has cemented her legacy as a national heroine. In 1649, his son and successor, Charles I, met the same end. By contrast, James is perhaps best remembered as 'the wisest fool in Christendom', an epithet handed down to us by one of his courtiers, Sir Anthony Weldon, who could also be considerably less kind, as when he recalled James continually fidgeting with his codpiece. Weldon's broadside appears at the outset of The World of James VI & I, an exhibition held at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. It's a show of considerable nuance, in large part because it doesn't set out to rehabilitate James, as such – rather, it wants you to engage with James on something like his own level. Stuffier exhibitions tell the story of monarchy predominantly with portraiture, and leave you wondering whether you'd have been better getting it from an illustrated book. Not so here, where portraits, letters, clothes, jewellery, ornate glassware and more combine to conjure a rich sense of the charged times in which James ruled, in both his kingdoms – as well as of James's enormous love of bling. The show takes the story of his reign at a canter. In Scotland, he founded Edinburgh University and cultivated a proud Renaissance court; on the other hand, his deeply held superstitions spurred him to rekindle the persecution of witches. In England, he tried in vain to effect an improbable peace with Spain, pursued a policy of unbridled colonisation in Ireland, oversaw the establishment of the first colonial plantations in Virginia, commissioned the King James Bible and enjoyed the company of male favourites such as George Villiers in terms that have had historians speculating ever since. But the real achievement of this exhibition is in understanding that these historical debates are, ultimately, too big for it – it can only point to them. What it can and does achieve is a sense of the sheer splendour of the Stuart court under James – and how James mobilised that splendour to communicate the potency of his dynasty. After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when he made the politically questionable decision of transplanting most of his court from Edinburgh to London, he compensated by commissioning portraits, medallions, coins and jewels, circulating images of the entire royal family to as wide an audience as possible – and making it abundantly clear that he had a stable marriage and secure bloodline, which must have been a breath of fresh air after the Tudors.
The Independent
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Robert Burns portrait sells for more than 160 times original estimate
A 'very rare' portrait of Robert Burns has sold for more than 160 times its estimated price of about £500. The picture, painted in the manner of Sir Henry Raeburn, fetched £84,320 (including buyer's premium) at auction in London this week. Scotland's national bard is said to have been a reluctant sitter and very few contemporary portraits of him exist. The most well known, by Alexander Nasmyth, is on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. The painting of Burns sold at Wimbledon Auctions this week is thought to have been influenced by the Nasmyth painting with a similar pose and outfit. It was found during a house clearance in Surrey. Felix Turner, director of Wimbledon Auctions, said: 'I am delighted to have achieved such a great price for this very rare portrait of Robert Burns. 'Consigned as part of a local house clearance, the painting fetched a whopping £68,000 hammer plus 24% buyer's premium (£84,320). 'Four telephone bidders and numerous online bidders competed for the lot in a 10-minute bidding battle. 'I am thrilled to have discovered the painting, which depicts such an important figure in Scottish history as Robert Burns.' The painting, originally valued at £300-£500, had been in the house from which it was cleared for many years and has been sold on behalf of the family who owned it. Robert Burns was born on January 25 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, and died in Dumfries aged 37 on July 21 1796. The painting sold at Wimbledon Auctions on Monday has not been given a precise date and is described as being in the manner of Sir Henry Raeburn, the acclaimed Scottish portrait painter who lived from 1756 to 1823.
