The Skating Minister

Rev. Robert Walker skating ( The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch or short The Skating Minister ) is an oil painting by Sir Henry Raeburn ( 1756-1823 ) in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. Until 1949, when it was bought from Scotland, it was virtually unknown; Today, however, it is one of Scotland's most famous paintings. It is considered an icon of Scottish culture, painted during one of the most important periods in the history of the country, the Scottish Enlightenment.

Reverend Robert Walker

The portrayed in the painting churchman Reverend Robert Walker. He was pastor of the Church of Scotland and was born on April 30, 1755 in Monkton, Ayrshire,. When he was a child, his father was pastor of the Scots Kirk in Rotterdam, so that the young Robert almost certainly on the frozen canals of the Netherlands learned skating. He was licensed in 1770 by the Presbytery of Edinburgh at the age of fifteen. He married Jean Fraser in 1778 and had 5 children. In 1779 he became a member of the Royal Company of Archers in 1798 whose chaplain.

He was both pastor of the Canongate Kirk and a member of the Edinburgh Skating Society, the oldest skating club in Britain. In the 1780s there were a number of particularly cold winter in Scotland, so that the lakes froze over. The club members met at the Duddingston Loch, as shown in the painting, or on the Lochend Loch north-east between Edinburgh and Leith, when these lakes were frozen accordingly.

The image

In order to join the Ice Club, you had to go out on a limb a circle. The picture shows Walker in this task. The picture is typical for the work of Raeburn and so there has long been doubts about the authorship. Raeburn painted this picture, different than usual, not in order, but for his own pleasure. Raeburn made ​​no preliminary sketches, therefore had to make corrections over again. This has been done in this painting for example on the hat; an indication of the authorship of Raeburn.

As for his portraits also delivers the landscape in the background: The face is the main thing.

Attribution debate

In March 2006, a curator of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on the assertion that the painting descended from French artist Henri -Pierre Danloux ( 1753-1809 ) and not by Sir Henry Raeburn. Once this information was present gallery, the name plate of the painting have been added to the sentence "Recent research suggested Has Actually what did the picture painted by Henri -Pierre Danloux .... ". Since then, this idea has been debated by many people. It has been argued that Danloux was in the 1790s in Edinburgh, the time was done as The Skating Minister. Also canvas and measure of the painting are those of a French painter. Despite an ongoing controversy over the attribution of the painting was sent in 2006 to New York City for the Tartan Day, a major Scottish celebration. This is a crucial event because it shows that the painting is a vital part of Scottish culture and is still regarded as a work of Scots.

Bibliography

  • The Skating Minister: The Story Behind the Painting, Lynne Gladstone - Millar, Woodstock Books, 2005, ISBN 1-901663 85- X ( The book gives the story behind the picture again It contains details about the painter, the Reverend, and. the painting )
  • 100 Masterpieces from the Great Museums of the World Vol 4, eds Wibke von Bonin, co-author Edwin Mullins, vgs, 1988, ISBN 3-8025-2180-3

Swell

  • Http://www.scotlandsource.com/henry-raeburn/w1.htm
  • Http://heritage.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=261&id=2415402005
  • Http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4315433.stm
  • Http://woodstockerbooks.com/Woodstocker_Books/b_preview.php?id=444
  • National Galleries of Scotland - Online Collections
  • Paintings (18th century)
  • Culture ( Scotland)
  • Portraiture
Scottish National Gallery
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